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Community development committee highlights summer-camp turnout, debates hiring process for department head
Summary
The Chattanooga City Council community development committee on Aug. 25 reviewed results from the city's summer camp program, including 625 participants and more than 21,000 meals donated by the YMCA, and discussed an administrative restructuring and a proposed vetting process for hiring a permanent community development administrator.
The Chattanooga City Council's community development committee on Aug. 25 heard a presentation on the 2025 summer-camp season and discussed an internal reorganization of the Department of Community Development as officials prepare to move from an interim to a permanent administrator.
Interim administrator Cedric Kinson told the committee the summer-camp program ran June 2 through July 25 and registered 625 participants across youth, teen and senior programs. "This year's program... we had an outstanding 625 participants registered," Kinson said, listing 12 youth camps for ages 6 to 12, two teen camps with 35 participants for ages 13 to 16, and four senior-adult sites at North River, Hixson, Francis B. Wyatt and Glenwood.
Kinson said registration was fully online for the first time using the city's MyChat Connect registration system, and that the city executed joint training for 49 camp counselors in partnership with Outdoor Chattanooga. He said staff organized more than 130 field trips and that the YMCA provided more than 21,000 meals to youth participants.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Steve Wilson described a proposed administrative restructuring that would fold the community health and community engagement divisions into the Department of Community Development to support a "community resource hub" model. "We are strategically focused on trying to meet the needs of the community, which is more than just being rec centers," Wilson said, explaining the change is intended to bring nurse navigators, youth-violence intervention and other services into centers where residents already go.
Council members discussed the selection process for a permanent administrator. Councilman Clark publicly requested that, before the mayor makes a final appointment, any candidate meet with each council member for questions and review. "Before that decision is made ... that candidate first meets with all of our council members," Clark said, requesting a formal preview for council oversight while acknowledging the mayor's prerogative to appoint department heads.
The committee did not take a binding vote on hiring rules. Staff said they are revising the job description to reflect the resource-hub model and will return the proposed organizational change to the council on future-consideration agendas for formal action.
Committee members and staff emphasized the summer program's scale when discussing potential budget adjustments. Councilman Clark urged colleagues to remember the children served when weighing cuts to community-development line items, listing several campers by name to underscore the programs' impact.
Next steps: staff will present the organizational-change ordinance on the council's future-consideration list and return with a revised job description and implementation plan in the coming weeks. The council did not set a formal hiring protocol; Clark's request that finalists meet each council member was noted and will be discussed with the mayor's office.
