Dec. 17 2011: Mayor Madeline Rogero is sworn in to office

Monday March 26th marks 100 days in office for Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, following her historic Dec. 17th 2011 inauguration as the first woman to ever hold the office. Taking no time off to recover from a grueling campaign, Mayor Rogero hit the ground running - wasting no time putting together an impressive team, rolling up her sleeves and getting down to the business of delivering on her campaign promises.

Mayor Rogero has staffed her administration with a capable team that reflects the diversity and interests of Knoxville. As promised during her campaign, she has established a new Office of Business Support. She is reaching out to neighborhood and community groups and helping them organize. She has gotten the ball rolling on promoting the area's natural resources and tourism. She is tackling the problem of blighted properties head on, and has made fixing the city's pension plan a top priority.

By all indications, Mayor Rogero is showing that she means business and is serious about making Knoxville "the most vibrant, livable and greenest city in America" with "a strong, robust economy and the ability to grow and attract good-paying jobs"(her words). She seems truly committed to "an open, transparent, inclusive government that respects all residents and celebrates the strength and vitality that comes from our diversity."

While Mayor Rogero can't take full credit for projects already in the works when she took office, investments continue to flow into Downtown Knoxville and North Central/Downtown North, plans for the Cumberland Ave. corridor are taking shape, and improvements along the Magnolia Ave. corridor are on the immediate horizon. This suggests a high level of confidence in Knoxville's future under Mayor Rogero's leadership.

And in a refreshing departure from the usual tone of local government and politics, her administration has been free of scandal and controversy. There will no doubt be difficult challenges down the road, but the Mayor and her team project a confident, professional approach to conducting the city's business in a way that raises the bar for local government.

In her short time in office, Mayor Rogero has proven herself as a strong, capable leader who can take the city in a new and exciting direction. She's off to a great start on making her vision for Knoxville a reality.

Here are some highlights from the first 100 days of Mayor Rogero's administration...

Personnel

• Promoted Bill Lyons, on leave from U.T former U.T. political science professor, to Chief Policy Officer and Deputy to the Mayor from his former post as Mayor Haslam's senior policy and communications director.

• Hired Eddie Mannis, local businessman and community leader, as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy to the Mayor.

• Retained Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch and Fire Chief Stan Sharp, both highly qualified leaders with decades of experience from coming up through the ranks.

• Hired Christi Branscom, a lawyer and construction company owner with a strong background in real estate and development, as Director of Public Works.

• Hired Jim Hagerman, a former TVA Engineer of the Year with experience in water quality and sustainability projects, as the Director of Engineering.

• Hired Dawn Michelle Foster, an urban planning expert with an extensive background in transportation and infrastructure engineering project management, as Deputy Director of Redevelopment.

• Hired Patricia Robledo, a businesswoman with a diverse background in marketing and a leader in the Hispanic community as well as an advocate for historic preservation, as Business Liaison heading up the new Office of Business Support.

• Hired Knoxville attorney Charles Swanson, former City Council special counsel and juvenile court judge, as City Law Director.

• Hired experienced local journalists to head up her communications staff, with Angela Starke as Senior Director of Communications and Jessee Fox Mayshark as Communications Manager.

• Folded the South Waterfront development project into the Office of Redevelopment, eliminating a full-time director position.

• Reduced administration payroll by $50,000 while adding a Business Liaison position for the new Office of Business Support.

Policy

• Assigned senior officials Bill Lyons and Eddie Mannis to work with City Council to address the city pension funding crisis, with a goal of having a new, financially sustainable plan on the ballot for voter approval by November.

• Introduced several new ordinances giving the city more enforcement tools to deal with blighted properties, passed on first reading by City Council pending approval on second reading. At the same time, put the owner of the deteriorating South High School property on notice to stabilize the structures or the city would do it and bill him.

• Launched new Office of Neighborhoods initiatives including neighborhood conferences, seminars, training workshops and other resources to help neighborhood and community groups organize.

• Launched Outdoor Knoxville, a major outdoor recreation and tourism initiative in partnership with the Legacy Parks Foundation and River Sports Outfitters, putting the long-vacant Gateway Pavilion Building at Volunteer Landing back into public use.

• Launched a review of the city's contract with the taxpayer-funded Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp., including a call for reforms with regard to executive compensation and oversight.

• Cracked down on illegal solid waste dumping at a construction materials recycling facility.

• Began steps to address frequent stormwater flooding at Prosser Road near the I-40/Rutledge Pike exit.

• Broke ground on two new energy-efficient homes as part of an affordable housing and revitalization effort in the Lonsdale community.

• Reopened a newly renovated South Knoxville fire station that had been closed since the 1980s.

• Expanded the curbside single-stream recycling program to 3,500 additional residences.

• Responding to a report on the city's contracts with minority businesses, Mayor Rogero said the report "shows we have a lot of work to do," and called for an action plan to promote opportunities for a "broader base of local businesses" to participate and contribute to the local economy.