High-Performing Government: Berke Administration Prioritizes A Government to Work for the People

In 2013, Andy Berke came into his role as the City’s 65th Mayor with a mission — reducing crime, creating jobs, supporting education, and making local government more efficient.

Over the last eight years, Mayor Berke has done just that by focusing on five priority areas — Stronger Neighborhoods, Safer Streets, Growing Economy, Smarter Students & Stronger Families, and High Performing Government. These priorities have served as a guide to ensure his administration works every day to break down the barriers preventing people from living the lives they want in our city.

City Hall Reorganization:

Upon entering office, Mayor Berke wanted to create a local government that would work harder, smarter, and more efficiently in serving Chattanoogans. Mayor Berke consolidated several departments, saving taxpayers more than $370,000 annually.

The Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Human Services, and the Department of Education, Arts & Culture were eliminated and divisions moved to the newly created departments of Youth and Family Development (YFD) and Economic and Community Development (ECD).

From Left to Right: Avondale YFD Center Reopening, Workforce Development Canvassing, and new paving along MLK Boulevard. Photo Credit: J. Adams/City of Chattanooga

Additionally, Mayor Berke created the Chattanooga Department of Transportation (CDOT), which allowed a renewed focus on improving Chattanooga’s infrastructure and ensures our transportation system works for all people. In the last eight years, the administration has invested more than ever in paving and transformed our greatest public spaces, our streets, into places for people by building sidewalks, greenways, and shared streets and permitting hundreds of block parties, parades, and other special events.

A Place for the People:

Early in his tenure, Mayor Berke established a mission for his administration: “To break down the barriers that prevent Chattanoogans from living the lives they want in their community.”

From top left to bottom right: The Mayor’s Youth Council “Bridging the Gap” event at UTC, the Mayor’s Council on Women Statewide Women’s Policy Conference, Meeting with residents at Burgers with Berke, and marching with the community at the annual MLK Day of Service.

With this in mind, the Mayor set out to engage directly with the community that he was elected to serve. In the last eight years he’s launched:

• Burgers with Berke, a monthly lunchtime meeting to share updates in specific districts and hear concerns from residents.
• Community Councils. The Mayor created an avenue for different community groups to directly work with and advise him on issues impacting them.
• The Mayor’s Council for Women was formed in 2015 and tasked with providing policy recommendations about issues affecting women within our region. In 2018, they hosted the first Statewide Women’s Policy Conference bringing together hundreds of women from around the state to work on issues surrounding empowerment, health and justice.
• The Mayor’s Youth Council provided a gateway for Hamilton County juniors and seniors to have a voice in their local government, bringing issues impacting their generation to the forefront of our community — such as voter registration and turnout among young voters, gun violence in schools, and mental health. The Council was formed in 2015 and has had more than 200 members from public and private schools in the County.
• The Faith Leaders Council provided Chattanooga’s faith community with the opportunity to speak directly with Mayor Berke about issues impacting their congregations and served as an invaluable resource to the administration in keeping residents informed about the City’s various services.
• Additionally, the Regional Mayor’s Council allows leaders from throughout the Chattanooga metropolitan area to collaborate on initiatives related to their shared cultural and economic future, including the region’s first resilience plan.
• The Mayors Council Against Hate, which unites leaders from our community’s corporate community, schools, faith organizations, law enforcement agencies, and non-profit sectors to combat violent extremism and mitigate bias-motivated violence in our region.
• Investments in Future Leaders. While the City of Chattanooga no longer had its own school system, Mayor Berke wanted to ensure our city was still committed to the education and advancement of our next generation of leaders.
• City Internship Program. The City of Chattanooga launched the Government Internship program in the Fall of 2013 as an opportunity to gain paid experience working in city government and grow professionally. Interns participate in professional development, community service activities, and field trips while working on projects for Departments within City Government.
• Reinstated the Teen Public Works Program. Decades ago, the City of Chattanooga provided local high school students the opportunity to work on a Public Works shift during the summer. This program gave youths a firsthand experience of different types of government work, even Mayor Berke’s father/grandfather participated in the program. In 2018, Mayor Berke reinstated the program providing students a paid summer job.
• Created the Styles L. Hutchins Fellowship. A meeting with the Black Student Alliance at the University of Tennessee — Chattanooga, provided insight to what many young Black graduates in Chattanooga felt — there wasn’t enough professional opportunity available to them. In Fall 2019, Mayor Berke worked with the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, and UTC to create the Styles L. Hutchins Fellowship, which focused on recruiting, growing, and retaining young Black talent in our community. The program has seen three cohorts, which built off of each other’s research and recommendations to implement programs that will help advance young Black talent in Chattanooga.

From Left to Right: Taking notes at a BFO Public Input Session, Another group discusses needs for the upcoming budget, and Mayor Berke speaks to residents participating in a BFO Public Input Session. Photo credit: J. Adams/City of Chattanooga

• A Budget by the People for the People. In advance of his administration’s first full fiscal year, Mayor Berke launched the Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) process, which uses data and public input to determine funding for city departments and their nonprofit agency partners that are closely aligned with residents’ priorities for their neighborhoods.
• Breaking Down Barriers. In 2017, the Mayor and City Council launched a program to freeze taxes for Chattanooga’s Senior Citizens and Disabled Veteran and partnered with the United Way of Greater Chattanooga in 2018 to assist low-income Seniors and Disabled Veterans with payment of their Water Quality Fees. Since its rollout, the City Treasurer has approved more than 3,898 applications for the Tax Freeze Program and 3,773 applications with Water Quality Fee assistance through United Way of Greater Chattanooga. The program expands each year, and we are expecting 2020 to be the biggest year of enrollment yet.

From Left to Right: Mayor Berke and Chief of Staff Kerry Hayes at a volunteer cleanup after the Easter Tornado amid the COVID-19 crisis, Assistance Police Chief Danna Vaughn lays a flower at the Wreath of Honor dedication, and the Wreath of Honor was built to honor the five servicemen killed on July 16, 2015. Photo credit: J. Adams/City of Chattanooga.

Leading in Crisis:

• Unforgettable Tragedy. On the morning of July 16, 2015, a gunman opened fire at a military recruitment center and then at the Naval Operational Support Center (NOSC), killing five brave and selfless men, who we’ve come to know as the Fallen Five — Marine Sgt. Carson Holmquist; Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan; Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Lance Cpl. Skip Wells, and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith. There’s nothing that can ever prepare a person to lead and comfort a City after an act of domestic terrorism strikes so close to home, but the Berke Administration wanted to ensure that no person — near or far — was radicalized from this event and that Chattanooga’s Muslim community was not the target of any hateful acts of retaliation. In the days and weeks following the attack, the City of Chattanooga worked with State and Federal agents to investigate all criminal leads and with community leaders of all faiths to bring the community together to heal. In 2017, Mayor Berke joined the Strong Cities Network (SCN), which is a global network of mayors and policymakers united in building community resilience to counter violent extremism in every form.
• Honoring Our Fallen. In the aftermath of the tragic shootings, the City and various partners got to work building a concept for a memorial. In October 2019, the Wreath of Honor was complete. The memorial concept is inspired by the symbolic form of the wreath; representing the notions of eternity, continuity and memory. In the military tradition of wreath-laying, this gesture recognizes honor and sacrifice. This memorial wreath marks the riverpark site made sacred by the attacks that occurred on July 16, 2015, at the nearby U.S. Navy Operational Support Center. It also acknowledges the acts of kindness and strength that followed, in the form of memorials and vigils held at the park.
• Fighting An Invisible Opponent. Plans for 2020 were upended when the novel coronavirus hit our community. On Friday, March 13, Mayor Berke issued the first of what would be dozens of Executive Orders declaring and maintaining a Civil State of Emergency in our community. The same day Mayor Berke declared the State of Emergency, Hamilton County announced its first case of COVID-19, but what was unknown at the time was just how long this fight would go on. Since then, Hamilton County has seen more than 30,300 cases of COVID-19 and lost over 300 people to this deadly virus. Along the way, Mayor Berke worked with local, regional and national leaders to help mitigate the spread of the disease, ease the devastating economic impact, and find ways to connect with and reassure our community that we would bounce back from this.
• Keeping the Connection. The same day the City issued its executive order, Mayor Berke also worked with EPB and Enterprise Center leadership to stand up dozens of wireless hotspots in areas around the city so students and families without access to reliable internet could still attend classes, meet work deadlines, and pay bills. Then in July, the City along with partners at Hamilton County Government, Hamilton County Schools, EPB, and nonprofit funders launched HCS EdConnect a program to provide high-speed internet to 28,500 Hamilton County families on free-and-reduced lunch at no cost to the family. Since then more than 10,000 students have been connected to the program.
• Stabilizing Small Businesses. The City of Chattanooga and City Council provided $2.5 million in grants and loans early on in the pandemic to help small businesses who were impacted by COVID-19. The funds went to dozens of businesses to help cover rent costs, provide pay for employees, purchase PPE, or business expansion needs.
• Emergency Rent and Utility Assistance. Similar to the Small Business Stabilization Fund, the City provided more than $1 million in rent and utility assistance for residents who had been furloughed, had their wages garnished, or hours cut due to the pandemic. This fund provided help for more than 700 payments on behalf of Chattanooga households who may have otherwise faced evictions or utility cutoffs.
• Cutting Costs, Not Employees. Dozens of businesses were impacted by COVID-19 and the City of Chattanooga government didn’t go unscathed either. With a loss of $8.5 million, the City had to make difficult decisions when building out its Fiscal Year 2021 budget but one thing that wouldn’t get cut were the men and women who work to keep the city running every day.

Mayor Berke will give his final State of the City Address on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET on Facebook and at 8 p.m. ET on WTCI-PBS. You can RSVP for the address at cha.city/sotc2021.

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