Gloria Ray
Who is she?
The tough-minded president of the Greater Knoxville Sports Corp. While the rest of official Knoxville has wheedled about baseball stadiums, convention centers, justice centers, and so on, Ray has landed one big sports event after another and at the same time shepherded into being the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She also stood up to the Superchamber.
Political trait:
Likes to golf.
Unpolitical trait:
Likes to get things done.
Homegirl credentials:
Grew up in North Knoxville. Went to Brownlow Elementary School, Broadway Baptist Church.
What does she think of politics?
"You have to be very skilled at understanding the system. I think it would be very difficult for an entrepreneurial mindset and a very aggressive, can-do person...The problem I would have is I would probably be too blunt. Because my tendency would be, my information style is, could you Cliff-Note it? I don't need to know all the details, I just need to know the facts."
What would be her campaign theme?
"I give a speech, it's called 'Don't Just Settle.' I think so often you get frustrated by the system or the obstacles, you get beaten down and just settle for it. And I think we've settled for a lot of things here."
Gloria on leadership:
"I think you have to accept the fact that you can't do everything. So I think you have to empower the people around you—and I hate that word, because it's such a cliché. But I think it's a fallacy that one person can do this or do that; what you can do is pump up the people around you...to do more than they think they can."
What would she want as her mayoral legacy?
"That the community gained confidence. That we picked a few things and by golly we got them done. That we're not just going to settle for what's left over."
Any interest in actually running for anything?
[Laughs] "If I decide to run, I'll tell you first. We've got a pretty full plate right now."
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