An era ends in Norris Mayor Mitchell exits
Norris Mayor Chris Mitchell points to his wife and mouths “Thank you” as he exits the City Council meeting Monday night for the last time after 18 years of service. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
He was ending 18 years of service on the council, all of them as mayor, after choosing not to run for re-election in the Nov. 3 general election.
It was an emotional moment for Mitchell, who had intended to make some comments to the council and onlookers as the final item on the agenda.
Instead, he stood up, walked toward the exit, and pointed to his wife, Pam Turner, who was sitting – as usual – in the rear of the council room.
“Thank you,” he mouthed to her, at which point the crowd erupted.
Prior to that, Joe Deatherage, a longtime participant in and observer of Norris government including serving twice as interim city manager, stood up and gave tribute to Mitchell.
“I want to thank him for his 18 years of service to this city,” Deatherage said, also to cheers from the crowd.
Mitchell told The Courier News before the meeting that he wanted to thank his wife for her support of his efforts in leading the city throughout the 18 years. The two normally showed up together for almost any event or meeting involving the city government.
It’s not yet known who will follow Mitchell as mayor, as that will be decided when the new council is sworn in at the beginning of the next regular meeting, Dec. 14. Mitchell technically remains mayor until the new council is sworn in.
Four incumbents – Travis Honeycutt, Bill Grieve, Chuck Nicholson and Alex Munro, will return to the council for the next two years, along with newcomer Zach Cross. All five ran unopposed in the Nov. 3 election.
Once they are seated on Dec. 14, they will choose the new mayor among themselves.
In other business Monday night, the City Council:
• Held a lengthy discussion of the Anderson County Library Board situation, in which the two Norris representatives on the board, Tommy Mariner and Susan Miceli, have been informed by the County Commission that they are no longer members.
The County Commission is making moves to end the longstanding practice of allowing the mayors of Clinton, Norris and Rocky Top to appoint two members each to the county Library Board.
In all three cities, the libraries are owned by the respective municipalities, but are operated by the county through the Library Board.
No action was taken by the council on the issue, but the mayor and council members made it clear that they believe the city should be able to continue appointing two members to the board.
The County Commission has recently taken the position that it, alone, has the authority to appoint members to the Library Board.
Now, the county pays $150,000 a year toward the operation of the Norris library, but under the new plan proposed in County Commission meetings, which could be dropped to $50,000 annually, Miceli told the Norris council.
• Re-affirmed its earlier plan for a new city sports complex next to the Community Building, which will now allow the engineering firm working on the plan to develop bid specifications for the project.
The council will still have an opportunity to review and potentially modify the plan before it goes out to bid, possibly early next year.
• Tabled until the Dec. 14 meeting a new ordinance on licensing and control of dogs and cats that had already been passed on first reading by the council in October.
The council is still working on changes to the ordinance before it comes up for second and final reading.