Former Regional Planning Agency Executive Director Dan Reuter has written Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, recommending that Georgia seek to have Walker and Catoosa counties moved out of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Transportation Organization.
He said they should be in the Dalton MPO because he said city of Chattanooga officials are inept in transit management and don't have the interests of the two Georgia counties at heart.
Mr. Reuter, who said he was forced to resign from the RPA post, said city of Chattanooga officials have mismanaged millions of dollars of federal transportation funds - to the detriment of Walker and Catoosa counties.
Here is the Reuter letter to Governor Kemp:
August 11th, 2025
Honorable Bryan P. Kemp, Governor State of Georgia 206 Washington Street Suite 203, State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334
Dear Governor Kemp,
It is with great respect that I am contacting you regarding an important issue in north Georgia. As an interesting personal fact, you and I both grew up in Athens and graduated from high school and UGA the same year. During the past 35 years I have worked in local government transportation planning and administration in Athens-Clarke County, Savannah-Chatham County, Glynn County, Douglas County and with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). I have worked with five (5) Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) in Georgia and recently Chattanooga, Tennessee including the counties of Catoosa and Walker Counties in north Georgia.
It is with this background which I must provide a matter that concerns me. I recently was forced to resign from the position as Executive Director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County/North Georgia MPO and Regional Planning Agency (RPA) by the City of Chattanooga Administration staff. RPA functions under an interlocal agreement between Chattanooga and Hamilton County and manages the regional MPO which Catoosa and Walker County in Georgia are required to participate under federal transportation laws. I believe the undue influence of the City of Chattanooga Mayor and Administration staff with regard to federal transportation funding within the MPO role is inappropriate and to the detriment of Catoosa and Walker counties.
The City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County and north Georgia counties make up the MSA with more than 600,000 residents. City of Chattanooga with 187,000 is approximately 1/3 of the MSA, 1/3 of Tennessee residents in the MSA live in Hamilton County outside of Chattanooga and 1/3 of residents live in north Georgia counties. Tennessee cities and counties have no funding source for local road improvements similar to the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) that was enacted in Georgia in 1985. Chattanooga has no significant local transportation funding and thus no competence in managing federal funds and major road improvements. The City of Chattanooga has mismanaged millions of dollars in federal funding without implementation of a significant project during the past decade.
Historically, the City of Chattanooga government dominated the economic development of the region. As the industrial base of Chattanooga declined, infrastructure funding became stagnant. Growth expanded into unincorporated Hamilton County and north Georgia. Yet Chattanooga leaders and organizations continue to focus on exerting an inappropriate amount of political power over the region including Georgia communities. This was evident in my employment and forced resignation as the RPA Executive Director. Chattanooga Administration staff in the mayor’s office seeks to exert undue influence and exhibits a level of incompetence which I believe will harm Georgia residents and businesses in the future.
I am requesting that Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) through coordination with the leadership of counties in Georgia, seek federal approval to place the counties of Walker and Catoosa in the Dalton MPO. The designation of Walker and Catoosa counties into the Chattanooga MPO is a federal consideration which I believe is currently detrimental and will have increasingly negative impacts on Georgia.
Moving the Walker and Catoosa counties federal transportation and planning funds entirely to the Dalton MPO will provide more benefits to Georgia residents and a level of objectivity that I do not believe can ever be undertaken by the leadership of the City of Chattanooga. Chattanooga and other Tennessee communities are decades behind Georgia for funding local road improvements and infrastructure. Chattanooga leaders are currently seeking a new Audi manufacturing facility which will continue to make north Georgia residents dependent on working in Tennessee. Thus, the Chattanooga city leaders will continue to seek to exert a level of undue influence over Georgia communities with little experience or competence to manage growth. I believe Georgia counties and the Dalton MPO area should benefit from economic growth.
I appreciate your time and attention to this issue. Thank you for your continued leadership guiding the State of Georgia. If I can assist you in any way in the future, please let me know. Sincerely,
Dan Reuter, FAICP