News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Multiple Cookeville department heads announcing retirement at the same time brings a time of great change to the city.
That’s according to City Manager James Mills. He said that this was one of his biggest concerns when he first took his position.
“I always called it a ‘great tsunami,'” Mills said. “I knew there were several people that started all at the same time, me included. They’ve been here for 20, 30, and in Ronnie Kelly’s case 40 years. A lot of them are getting to their early, mid-sixties and that’s the typical age to retire. It’s just all hitting at the same time.”
Mills said that the loss of employees with 40 plus years of knowledge can present a huge challenge. However, he said that the city is fortunate enough to have good, long-serving employees ready to take over the roles from the outgoing directors.
Mills said that with changing of leadership roles, upcoming elections, and ongoing projects, the city has a lot going on. He said that he’s lucky that he has a team and resources he can depend on to navigate the excitement and challenges of the next couple of years.
“If you think about it we’ve got all this federal money coming in, we’ve got to make big decisions on what projects we’re going to do,” Mills said. “We’ve got some huge water and sewer projects we’ve got to do, this council is talking about a new aquatics facility, we’ve got some major, major street projects going on. The widening of 10th Street, the widening of West Stevens Street, the widening of South Jefferson. There is a lot going on and a lot of great projects. I’m really, really fortunate to have great directors and other employees that can move up to those positions that make my job a whole lot easier.”
