Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ive mostly been living in Cookeville in the past 10 years and only really got active in paying attention to the news while Porter and Shelton have been in charge. They seem to be doing a great job and Cookeville has seen a lot of positive growth.
What were things like when Kim Blaylock and Matt Swallows were mayors? Has Cookeville always been experiencing growth? Who were other significant mayors we have had in the past and what did they do? Are there other local leaders that I should know about who have made significant contributions (George Halford, Melinda Keifer?)
Ive mostly been living in Cookeville in the past 10 years and only really got active in paying attention to the news while Porter and Shelton have been in charge. They seem to be doing a great job and Cookeville has seen a lot of positive growth.
What were things like when Kim Blaylock and Matt Swallows were mayors? Has Cookeville always been experiencing growth? Who were other significant mayors we have had in the past and what did they do? Are there other local leaders that I should know about who have made significant contributions (George Halford, Melinda Keifer?)
That's a good question. I do know that Cookeville mayors don't run for mayor, they have to run for the city council, and then the city council (5 members) elects one of their own to become the mayor. I don't think it's required that they elect the one who got the most votes during the election, but that's how it's always turned out. And whoever had the 2nd most votes during the election has always become vice mayor.
Cookeville's mayor doesn't really do much as far as day-to-day running of the city and is more of a figurehead than anything although he can and does make proposals for the city council to act upon. The city council hires a city manager who "runs" the city. They've had some really good city managers who've been good stewards of public funds. Jim Shipley, for example, was city manager for 20 years (retired in 2015) and prior to working for Cookeville was a state comptroller and finance director. Cookeville's current city manager, James Mills, was formerly head of the city's planning department, has a master's degree in city planning, and prior to working for Cookeville was with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The city managers are employed at the pleasure of the city council, but Cookeville has been able to attract excellent and well qualified people to serve as city managers.
Melinda Keifer is another good leader. She's the city's economic development coordinator which means she works closely with the county and the chamber of commerce. Her father, Tony Stone, was a former mayor of Cookeville who was originally from the Nashville area, came to Cookeville to play football at Tennessee Tech, fell in love with the community and stayed. He was a very popular mayor who started some of the popular community festivals we still enjoy today. Anyway, Melinda has a love for the community, too, and prior to her position in Cookeville, she also worked for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, like Jim Shipley. She knows how to talk to business recruiters and promote her hometown, and she does it well.
Kim Blaylock was a very, very good county mayor. Prior to working for the county, she was a certified public accountant. Her father was the much loved Tommy Burks, a state senator from Monterey who was a Democrat but was highly respected on both sides of the aisle. He never stayed overnight in Nashville during session, for example, even though the state would've paid for it. He drove back to Monterey every night so he could slop the pigs in the morning before heading back to the state capitol. His assassination rocked the entire region. Because it was too close to the election for a replacement to be put on the ballot, his widow, Charlotte Burks, was a write-in candidate. Even though she never campaigned, she won with 95% of the vote. That's the kind of pedigree that we like around here: public servants who love their community and are good stewards of government funds.
Randy Porter is a fantastic county mayor. One thing unique about Putnam County is that all five mayors (the four city mayors and the county mayor) get along and work for the benefit of the entire county. There's no bickering or infighting among the cities, something that Melinda Keifer said is very rare and is one reason businesses and industry are attracted to the Cookeville area. More about that later.
Randy came to Cookeville from Macon County as a student and started working for the county right out of college as a paramedic after getting a degree in Applied Science (Paramedic). While doing that he went back to school to get a degree in business administration. He led the county's E911 department for 30 years and knows the ins and outs of county government and managing public money.
Now, for the chamber of commerce. You mentioned George Halford. The chamber of commerce has been remarkably stable, and George was just the 2nd president ever. He had experience running chambers of commerce in much larger cities than Cookeville but came here because he loved the area and had a vision for what the area could become. He got the chamber involved in regional initiatives, something almost unheard of in the balkanized and competitive world of how chambers usually work. Putnam, Jackson, Overton, and White counties all cooperate on a regional level, and it's been hugely successful. Just like the 4 cities in Putnam County work together, so do the various municipalities and county heads in the region. A prime example is when the German company Hörmann was looking around Cookeville to build a new factory, they couldn't find the perfect spot. So Cookeville and Putnam County officials recommended that they look at Sparta and White County. State economic development officials were quoted as being amazed that one county told a factory to locate in another county. But George was able to convince regional leaders that what's good for one town is good for the entire region.
After George retired from the chamber (and is staying in Cookeville, by the way), the chamber hired another superstar, Amy New. Amy is Kim Blaylock's daughter and also has a deep love for the community, having grown up in a family of dedicated public servants. Her husband was a star baseball player at Tennessee Tech who was drafted by the Dodgers but now works from home as a data engineer. Amy has a degree in business administration and a license as a Tennessee Certified Economic Developer from the University of Tennessee. She served as the state's Assistant Commissioner of Rural and Community Development and came back to Putnam County after working as director of programs in the Government and Community Affairs Office at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her relationships and partners across the state will have a huge impact as she leads the county chamber and the regional initiative.
Anyway, all of that is to show that Cookeville and Putnam County have a long history of good, solid leaders. Sorry this post was so long.
---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
JMT thank you for your excellent post. A long post is exactly what I was looking for. Fascinating story about the Burks family. I love learning about local stories and background information like this. If I wanted to find out more do you know where I could?
JMT thank you for your excellent post. A long post is exactly what I was looking for. Fascinating story about the Burks family. I love learning about local stories and background information like this. If I wanted to find out more do you know where I could?
Thanks. I enjoyed writing it. I don't know of a single source where you could go to find out more about this kind of stuff. I started paying attention to Cookeville/Putnam County leaders and politics back when I was living in Knoxville and looking for a better place to live, so I used things like old Herald-Citizen articles, Wikipedia entries, and other news sources (UC Business Journal, 94.1, etc.) to verify events and people I remembered hearing about.
And I agree with you and Jumeby, we are blessed to have such good leadership. While no one is perfect (especially politicians) by and large we have elected and appointed leaders who seem to work for the benefit of the greater community.
I do get uneasy when I see some people post on Ricky Shelton's FB page that they wish the city would get rid of its term limits so he could continue to be mayor. While he's doing a great job and is probably one of, if not the best mayor Cookeville has ever had, there are others in this town who love the community and could probably bring different or additional visions and talents to the city council (and mayor's office).
---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
Ricky is doing a great job and I wouldnt mind voting for that to happen but Cookeville’s term limits seemed to have been great so far why change it now. As the saying goes.. if it aint broke.
And if Im not mistaken he could rejoin the city council (but not as mayor) after a break in terms? I believe former Mayors Charles Womack and Dwight Henry have done that? I think even Ricky has been on the council before but not as mayor?
Ricky is doing a great job and I wouldnt mind voting for that to happen but Cookeville’s term limits seemed to have been great so far why change it now. As the saying goes.. if it aint broke.
And if Im not mistaken he could rejoin the city council (but not as mayor) after a break in terms? I believe former Mayors Charles Womack and Dwight Henry have done that? I think even Ricky has been on the council before but not as mayor?
That could be, I'm not sure. I know there are people out there who are hoping Ricky will run for county mayor whenever Randy Porter's term is up. If Randy lives in the city, I suppose he could then run for city council and end up as mayor, I don't know. But really, I'd like to see some fresh blood in there and have these veterans serve in other capacities. There's not a shortage of ways of serving in our communities. I know former mayor Matt Swallows is heavily involved in downtown development, and I can see Ricky getting involved with that, too.
---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
After reading last night on the scandal with the Nashville mayor I'm glad Putnam county is free of such political nonsense.
While I agree our political process should be open to others I hope voters in Putnam county will exercise due diligence in selecting who they vote for. The wrong person in office could result in a world of trouble for our community as we now see throughout our nation.
Speaking of good leaders, here's a radio interview from this past Saturday with John Gentry who served as county executive (now called county mayor) for 10 years and was later city manager of Cookeville. He was definitely a good one. The interview is fairly short (less than 15 minutes) as John reminisces. I think he first was elected county executive in the late 1970s.
---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
This video is a little long, just under an hour, but it's an example of the local leaders working well together. The Chamber of Commerce / Highlands Economic Partnership held a "municipal town hall" earlier this week with the 5 county mayors (Algood, Baxter, Cookeville, Monterey, and Putnam County). It's fun to watch them interact and see that there's absolutely no bitterness or jealousy, that they work well together for the benefit of the entire county and region. They took questions that had been sent prior to the virtual meeting and questions uploaded to Facebook during the meeting.
---
its - possession
it's - contraction of it is
your - possession
you're - contraction of you are
their - possession
they're - contraction of they are
there - referring to a place
loose - opposite of tight
lose - opposite of win
who's - contraction of who is
whose - possession
alot - NOT A WORD
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
