Mayors talk about various issues in joint event

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Both Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp took the stage together Tuesday.
In the second annual Chatt With the Mayors event that happened on Tuesday, Mayors Kelly and Wamp talked about a variety of issues including education funding, the impact of DOGE on local politics, and how local government should react to homelessness and immigration. 

Mayor Kelly said, “I’m convinced increasingly we’re entering an era in the United States, in fact in the whole industrialized world of mid sized cities, where we can create this goldilocks environment where we can balance quality of life and growth and do extraordinary things.”

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp speaking at the second annual “Chatt With the Mayors” event.

Mayor Wamp says that this balance will have to go beyond Hamilton County.

He said, “It takes me 55 minutes to get from my house to Birchwood, only 8 minutes to get to Sequatchie County. So this thing is regional, not us vs. Marion County.”

The mayors were asked how federal cuts from DOGE were impacting local budgets, including education.

Mayor Kelly said, “It’s only ten percent roughly of educational funding, the federal stuff. So there’s block grants and the flexibility they offer, actually we’re seeing the same thing in the Department of Labor. Chattanooga is one of 16 cities who got to participate, 16 across the whole United States in this work creation program. Frankly what I saw at the Department of Labor blew my mind in terms of the impenetrable bureaucracy and the programs that weren’t actually working.”

Mayor Wamp said that local government must be steady.

He said, “We all probably would be wise to avoid any huge adjustments to the way we do business based on the Feds because this President, love him or hate him has got three years and some change left and then there’ll be another sea change.”

On public safety, both say investment in youth is key to continuing to reduce crime.

Mayor Kelly said, “With services at our community centers and our department of public health, the work is working. Chief Chambers would say this that you can’t arrest your way out of this problem.”

Both say that cooperation between the city and county mayors is crucial to managing the future of the Chattanooga area.