Mariah Franklin

2 weeks ago | timesfreepress.com | Mariah Franklin

Chattanooga has set its spending for the next fiscal year. Public transit, community development initiatives and early learning efforts all received funding under the city's $345.2 million budget, which council members passed unanimously and without discussion Tuesday. Public safety, encompassing police and firefighting services, will make up the largest single bucket of city spending, at $152.1 million.

2 weeks ago | timesfreepress.com | Mariah Franklin

Fears of cuts to an office that offers energy assistance and support for families across Chattanooga and the state of Tennessee prompted conversation about the state of federal funding Tuesday. Chattanooga City Council member Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge asked officials from the office of Mayor Tim Kelly what will happen if the federal government slashes spending on programs run through the city's Office of Family Empowerment.

2 weeks ago | timesfreepress.com | Mariah Franklin

Chattanooga mayor talks ‘city manager’ model for government 6 minutes ago by Mariah Franklin Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly spoke June 5, 2025, to the Rotary Club of Chattanooga at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Chattanooga's mayor is talking over a change that would reshape the way the city government runs — and who runs it.

3 weeks ago | timesfreepress.com | Mariah Franklin

Chattanooga's mayor urged business and community leaders to look locally for support and a path forward in the face of fast-changing national law and policy. Mayor Tim Kelly won election to a second term in the city's March 4 elections. In a Thursday speech to the Chattanooga Rotary Club, he outlined a distilled version of his One Chattanooga plan for the city over the next four years with a heavy emphasis on localism. Look to your neighbors in the years ahead, he said.

3 weeks ago | timesfreepress.com | Mariah Franklin

Hamilton County commissioners questioned aspects of County Mayor Weston Wamp's proposed county budget -- ranging from tourism to commissioners' spending to electric vehicles and the health department and step increases for teachers -- during a budget hearing Wednesday. Commission Chair Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, called for the hearings -- one on the general budget, which commissioners discussed Wednesday, and one on the county school system, to be held June 11.