Selfless Leadership Needed In Chattanooga

Through the years I came a business owner here locally. That one business has now turned into four businesses, and I’ve been involved in the Chamber of Commerce and various organizations locally as well as monitored and have been around local politics.

I actually lived in Greenville, South Carolina when BMW announced its first North American plant. I saw what would need to take place in order to facilitate the infrastructure movements to make Greenville/Spartanburg successful with the influx of BMW and all the suppliers.

Years later, I find myself on the Enterprise Gateway Chamber Council in Chattanooga when Volkswagen announces their North America plant.  I waved a red flag to local elected officials that we needed to get in front of the infrastructure items that were critical to the growth of a city.  Some of the items I suggested were sewer, water, roads but, most importantly, leadership that had vision and operated unselfishly.

What I’ve seen since then is the complete opposite of that. I see selfish leaders who pontificate and grandstand to try and further an agenda for themselves. I do not see leadership that is selfless, looks out for the future taxpayers and wants controlled growth with the fact that we are a city on the move. I do not see balance. 

If the City Council,  County Commission and mayors, as well as various associations and boards, would take leadership seriously, it would benefit the consumers and citizens of our county, city and area. Not doing so will be detrimental to many aspects of what the next generation will be faced with.