The Knoxville City Council has spent much of 2021 focusing on the hiring of a new city manager. At a work session Monday evening, council members discussed priorities relating to the position. Mayor Brian Hatch says there was some discussion about incorporating economic development within the position, but the council decided the normal city manager duties are first and foremost.

“At the end of the day, it sounds like they were all in agreement that we want the city manager to still focus on city manager duties. An economic development background would be great, but we don’t want that to solely be the focus. We think there’s enough stuff on the city manager’s plate with budgets, projects, managing staff, all those things. They wear all those hats already, and we didn’t want to add more to their plate. So I think that’s where city council landed throughout that discussion.”

The city council will select a recruitment firm at its meeting Monday evening, which will narrow the field of applicants. Hear more from Knoxville Mayor Brian Hatch on tomorrow’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.