Metro Pulse/Insights/Bill Haslam's Challenges

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by Joe Sullivan

The biggest obstacle that Bill Haslam had to overcome in winning election as mayor on Tuesday was the rallying cry of his opponent, Madeline Rogero, that too few people have been making too many decisions in this city for too long. During his campaign, Haslam succeeded in reaching out to the electorate to dispel the notion that he exemplified a business hierarchy that would run the city to suit its interests. In the course of doing so, he learned a great deal about the interests and concerns of all kinds of people in all sections of the city.

One of Haslam's challenges when he takes office in December will be how to take all of these into account in his decision making. Desires for more street work, sidewalks, traffic calming and other types of projects in many neighborhoods, along with more economic development initiatives, must be reconciled with aversion to the tax increase it would take to pay for them.

And these are just a subset of the biggest single challenge staring the new mayor in the face: namely, a budget bind that's going to force cost cutting, a tax increase, or both, even before getting to any new initiatives. Projected revenue growth for the fiscal year ahead won't begin to cover mandatory expense increases totaling $6 million to cover pension fund contributions, a 2 1/2 percent pay raise for city employees and the higher cost of health insurance. The impending shortfall is all the more foreboding because it comes on the heels of budget cuts imposed by Mayor Victor Ashe for the current fiscal year that are already pinching city services.

Haslam's campaign has stressed his business acumen, gained as an executive of Pilot Corp, for budgeting in hard times. And he's made it clear he'll be focusing on cost cutting rather than raising taxes. Indeed, "keeping property taxes low" has become a major campaign refrain. Higher taxes, he has warned, could make the city less competitive in attracting and retaining residents and businesses—a major campaign goal. Yet sustaining city services is also key, and Haslam has already promised to restore funding for street paving that Mayor Victor Ashe had cut out of this year's operating budget. He's also been responsive to widespread complaints from inner city residents about blighted buildings and unsightly vacant lots in their neighborhoods, which translates into stepped-up building code enforcement.

In addition to finding ways to balance the city's operating budget, Haslam faces tough decisions on capital outlays that would add to the city's debt service burden. Downtown redevelopment has been a major campaign emphasis, but there's a multi-million dollar price tag on plans for a new cinema and garage to support Market Square revitalization. A major expansion of the State Street garage is also in the works to alleviate parking problems. Looming largest of all is the question of whether to back construction of a new convention headquarters hotel or, short of that, to subsidize the expansion of an existing downtown hotel to meet the needs of the city's new convention center which is floundering at a high cost to taxpayers.

When Haslam launched his campaign for mayor, he keyed it to the theme "It's Knoxville's Time." The import, while unstated, was that Knoxville has been flagging or lagging in its development compared to sister cities such as Chattanooga. Despite the budget crunch, Haslam must find the means to sustain downtown revitalization efforts in order to make good on this theme; and he's also heralded a "renaissance in economic development" within the city. Toward that end, he's pledged support to the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership's Jobs Now! Program to which Knox County is contributing $400,000 annually and the city not at all. And Haslam can be expected to personally spearhead business recruitment efforts, which chamber officials say can make a huge difference in their success. At the same time, the new mayor has got to build a management team that can help him achieve these goals. His choices for a chief of staff, finance director, development director and other key department heads will have a lot to do with how much he can accomplish.

More collaboration with Knox County should flow naturally from Haslam's close relationship with County Mayor Mike Ragsdale. In addition to teaming up on economic development, both men see potential for efficiencies and economies from consolidation of governmental functions over time.

In the early going, Haslam will be challenged to adapt to public decision-making processes quite different from those he's experienced in private business. For one, he must develop good working relations with City Council in order to muster a majority on that nine-member body for any course of action. Newcomers will occupy four of the nine seats as a result of this fall's election, but Haslam can be encouraged by the fact that the front runners for each of these four seats in Tuesday's primary voting appear to be aligned with him.

Haslam is also committed to more public involvement in decision making, but defining what forms of involvement in what sort of process will also be a challenge. The approach may vary depending on what's to be decided. But one constant is that no decisions should be made without affording everyone concerned an opportunity to be heard. At the same time, it's the mayor's responsibility to keep the public fully informed on what is pending, to make a straightforward case for whatever he may be recommending, and to keep an open mind.

If Haslam can succeed at that, the climate for acceptance of governmental decisions in this city will be much improved. And the public needs to keep in mind that the mayor is elected to lead, not follow.