Norris council meeting Monday to promote Whited to city manager
Norris Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited
Whited, who has been the assistant since early 2023, will replace City Manager Charles “Adam” Ledford, who handed council members a letter of resignation on Sept. 8, effective Jan. 2.
The assistant city manager’s position was created by the council on Ledford’s recommendation in November 2022, just over a month after Ledford took over as city manager.
During its Sept. 8 meeting, the council voted to accept Ledford’s resignation, and in the same motion, to eliminate the assistant’s position as of Jan. 1.
Then during the Nov. 10 regular meeting, the council members voted unanimously to hold the special meeting next Monday to elevate Whited to the job.
Whited, 26, is an Anderson County native who attended Norris Middle School and graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
He told The Courier News last week that he was looking forward to taking over as city manager.
“I went to school here, and I want to be here,” he said of Norris.
Ledford had been facing increasing scrutiny of his work by Mayor Chris Mitchell and others on the City Council. But he said in his letter of resignation that he was leaving for personal reasons.
Monday night’s meeting to promote Whited will be held following the city Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m.
Whited’s promotion would become official as of Jan. 2, or earlier if Ledford should choose to leave the job before Jan. 1.
The mayor and council members Loretta Painter and Bill Grieve stated their support for Whited, and said they did not believe the city needed to conduct a nationwide search for a new city manager, as it did twice in mid-2022.
Councilman Charles “Chuck” Nicholson, however, said he would prefer a national search.
Still, Nicholson voted with the other members to pass the motion for the special meeting to consider promoting Whited. The vote was 4-0, as one of the five council positions is open – the seat that was held by William “Will” Grinder, who submitted his resignation about two weeks ago.
The council also on Nov. 10 voted to accept Grinder’s resignation, and decided to consider naming someone to fill out the remaining year of his term during the next regular council meeting, Dec. 8.
Any residents wanting to be considered for the council vacancy are asked to submit a letter or email by Dec. 1 to the city administration office. Candidates will be allowed to speak during the Dec. 8 council meeting.
Several Norris residents attending the Nov. 10 meeting expressed their support of Whited’s promotion.
The mayor and some council members, as well as some residents who regularly attend council meetings, have complained recently that the city has not been quick enough to address and fix some important city issues.
Those include repairing and replacing downtown sidewalks and fixing the deteriorating roof on the city’s gazebo in the city center.
But a group of concerned citizens took it upon themselves recently to repair the gazebo, after raising money from the community to pay for the work, including a new roof.
Ledford took over the city manager’s position on Oct. 7, 2022, after the city conducted two separate searches for a replacement for Scott Hackler, who resigned the position in June 2022, citing health reasons.
Whited was offered the assistant city manager position Jan. 31, 2023, after the City Council approved a contract for the position, submitted by Ledford.
Whited had been serving as city manager/recorder for the city of Rockford since May 2021. The City Council was not involved in the assistant city manager selection process, which was left entirely to Ledford.
The contract approved by the council specified an annual salary of $68,000 for the assistant city manager, along with other benefits.
Whited told The Courier News at the time that he grew up “near Fairview Elementary School in the Heiskell area,” and graduated from Anderson County High School in 2017.
He holds a master’s degree in public policy administration and a bachelor’s degree in political science from UT-Knoxville.