City's Chief Operating Officer Ryan Ewalt Departing

After almost three years of service, my last day with the City of Chattanooga will be August 27, 2024.

While I did not come here to start a long-term career in government, I felt like I was called to a period of public service, however long it may be. I had never met Mayor Kelly before, and a friend arranged for us to have lunch. Quickly I could tell it was about leading operations at the City, and I tried to talk the Mayor out of it. I wasn't from Chattanooga, I didn't know many people here, I didn't like politics - he said none of that mattered. Then I told him my faith and family were very important to me and that I was right of center politically - he said he wanted a leadership team that represented all of Chattanooga. With my systems engineering degree, business experience, and my wife and I both having a masters degree in public administration, we felt I was being called to this work.

The mission from the Mayor was clear: operationalize One Chattanooga inside city government. Create systems to advance One Chattanooga but also fix systems and processes to make government work better. So we created systems and started iterating... one year plans, redesigned metrics, redesigned leadership meetings and all hands meetings, distilled 11 principles into 4 values, created a Mayoral Award, redesigned email/web/text communication, conducted engagement surveys, and created an innovation fund and cost savings incentive program to tap directly into employee ideas. All these things have moved us forward but also in ways where we've learned to do better. We've also tried to make government work better... we've done a one year intensive blitz on improving processes in LDO led by Julia, stabilized garbage and recycling operations, experimented with brush/bulk trash operations to be responsive, increased community center numbers significantly from post-COVID lows, made large strides in our approach to pedestrian safety, strengthened our fire apparatus and station position, paved a lot of lane miles, filled a lot of potholes, and navigated some tough budgets ... just to name a few. As a team, we iterated and improved. And the continued trajectory is strong with important things coming soon - new city website/branding, new 311 app, consistent performance reviews, pay for performance, the list goes on. I'm incredibly thankful to have been part of such a wonderful team for all of this work. We have done some really great things together.

But Heather and I always saw this as a short term calling to public service. And now I am being called back to business - this time to a local small business called Variable, Inc. to lead operations and help it grow, hopefully creating jobs here in Chattanooga. I'm very excited about this opportunity to impact a business, its customers, and our community in this new way, but I am sad to leave. I will miss this unique time of my life and many of you very much. Many of you are what made this time truly special.

As many of you know, our culture and four shared values are really important to me. I told almost 1,000 employees in new hire orientation that our other three values break down if we do not treat each other with dignity and respect, which is our fourth value. Without respect, we don't solve problems well together. We don't serve others or each other well. And we struggle to do the right thing. Respect is critical to building trust, and culture eats strategy for breakfast (see below and the One Chattanooga plan). I'm proud of much of what we've done. But each of us can do better living out the value of respect - and, if we do, our team will be stronger, and our legacy will be stronger... inching closer to our shared vision. Stay focused on our values and our goals - for each other and for Chattanooga.

As a resident, I will keep rooting for you and will be excited to see what you are able to accomplish as One Team for One Chattanooga!

Sincerely,

Ryan