Greeneville Assistant City Manager Cathy Osborne has accepted the position as Interim City Manager for the Town of Greeneville until a permanent replacement is hired to replace Todd Smith.
City Council unanimously approved the appointment during their meeting this afternoon.
Mayor Cal Doty offered to delay a decision on an interim City Manager for two weeks pending further consideration, but council member Tim Teague made the motion that Osborne be appointed, saying he did not feel the city could wait another two weeks without someone being in charge. The motion was pending Osborne accepting the appointment which she did, under the agreement that she be able to return to her Assistant City Manager job after the hiring of the full time City Manager. Tim Ward seconded the motion. Osborne will work in the interim position on a verbal commitment until City Attorney Ron Woods formalizes a written agreement.
OSBORNE COMMENTS ON ACCEPTING THE INTERIM ROLE
“So, yes, with a lot of thought and prayer and consideration, because I will say this has been been a rough couple weeks for our staff, especially I can’t speak for all departments, but inside Town Hall, we’ve all experienced a loss in a sense, and so we are all trying to find our grounding. But yes, I am willing to serve in this role, and I will probably need a lot of grace. Because Todd did do a lot for our town for the past 13 years and I think most of us can tell you, we’re very thankful for his leadership and his mentorship to all of us. But I will fulfill this job with a verbal commitment right now until Ron works up a written agreement as an interim roll. And I would like to be able to go back to my position as assistant city manager when you are able to find the right person for the city manager role. I’ve looked at charter multiple times, and that is the best job description that we have so far to look at the duties and responsibilities. And so I’ve carefully read over that, and I am willing to do that. I will say that in the midst of the vote last city council meeting with a three two vote, I know that change is wanted, but I also know that for our citizens and for our staff, I do think that we need some stability and some continuity right now during this transition period. I want our citizens to know that services are going to still be in place just as they have been, and that thankfully, I have a great staff and a great leadership team that have reached out to me and said that they will help in any way possible. I think that means a tremendous amount.”
CATHY OSBORNE BIO
Before coming to work at the Town in 2020, Cathy Osborne worked as director of the Greene County Health Department. Prior to her tenure with the Health Department, she was Director of Operations at the Boys & Girls Club of Greeneville & Greene County, where she worked for 15 years. Cathy is a graduate of Chuckey Doak High School. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Human Services Management with a Minor in Psychology. She also holds a Master Degree in Public Health and a Master Certificate in Health Care Management from East Tennessee State University. She is a graduate of the Town of Greeneville’s Citizens Academy and a recipient of the 40 Under Forty award from The Business Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia. She serves on the boards of Keep Greene Beautiful and Main Street: Greeneville.
