by John Shearer
posted January 8, 2008
) Mike Feely |
Appointed on Nov. 20 after Marti Rutherford resigned over district residency questions, he will be stepping down shortly after a special election takes place on Feb. 5 for a replacement to complete Ms. Rutherford’s term.
However, he is still trying to make the most of his time.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said the pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church and the director of the local United Methodist Church’s St. Andrews Center. “The kind of stuff I am interested in is policy.”
When the City Council was seeking a replacement with the understanding that the person would not run in the February election, he thought friend and former Chattanooga Police Chief Steve Parks would get selected.
However, Mr. Parks dropped out, and Mr. Feely was chosen after he and the other candidates gave brief presentations to the council.
“I think it was the cheapest campaign ever,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t even put the letter in an envelope.”
But he has admittedly not tried to be cheap with his time.
Mr. Feely, whose district includes Brainerd, Tyner and the airport area, said he has spent most of his time when not in City Council sessions going to neighborhood meetings.
“I tell them that they need to get to know me fast because I won’t be here long,” he quipped again, adding that his already full schedule has become even fuller.
As one who lives in Brainerd, works in both Highland Park and East Lake, was born on Lookout Mountain, graduated from Rossville High, and whose children attend the Center for Creative Arts in North Chattanooga, he admitted he was already concerned about the city as a whole.
Among the issues he has found important among the citizens are concerns about crime, the numerous cash advance stores in his district, traffic issues, bright lights at night, and a desire for both better quality of life and more creative ways to tackle problems.
“It reminds me of being pastor at a small church,” he said. “People enjoy having someone ask what are the ways to address the issues.”
As an example of trying to be proactive about issues, he is planning a meeting in early February for religious and community leaders to look at what is happening in the areas around their churches, synagogues and mosques.
“There are a lot of ways life can be better if we learn to come together,” he said.
He has also looked at trying to bring in credit unions as viable solutions to combat the debt problems that can result from check advance stores.
Among the other issues in which he is interested and hopes to push or find more about after leaving office are having a more extensive park around the Brainerd Mission Cemetery and learning more about the proposed high-speed rail link from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
Mr. Feely has tried to be involved much of his life. After graduating from Rossville High in 1981, he attended the University of Georgia and was a member of the Redcoat Marching Band, performing at halftime on the same field as 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. He also served as a dormitory resident assistant.
After graduating, he was employed in the political arena in Washington, D.C., working for U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia and helping run election campaigns.
While attending Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, he became aware of the growing Hispanic community in that city.
Both a mission trip to Mexico – a country with which he fell in love – and an awareness of a growing Hispanic population in East Tennessee after he began serving United Methodist churches here in the early 1990s made him see a potential outreach ministry.
“I came back and suddenly started hearing Spanish,” he said
He later took Spanish at Walters State Community College in Morristown, Tn.
After he was assigned as minister of outreach mission at Brainerd United Methodist Church in 2000, he began with the endorsement of school system officials an outreach ministry at East Side Elementary for Hispanic children and parents.
He later became coordinator of Hispanic ministries for the entire Chattanooga District of the United Methodist Church and has a number of outreach programs at the former St. Andrews United Methodist Church near Tennessee Temple.
From his work, he has realized Chattanooga has changed dramatically since he graduated from high school, when the community was predominantly white and African-American.
“Now we have 46 languages spoken in the school system,” he said. “We are the crossroads of the world in some ways, and that has happened in less than 30 years.”
He is also at a crossroads regarding future interest in running for political office. He knows some good candidates are running for the District 6 seat in February. And Marti Rutherford – with whom he said he has enjoyed sitting down and discussing District 6 issues – may run again in March 2009, when the seat will be filled for four years.
But if the situation seems right, he may just try again.
“We will see who is in there and how they are doing,” he said.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net
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