KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and a group of judges swore in several newly elected leaders from different parts of Knox County's local government.
The new officials won in August's general election. The new faces have different backgrounds, but the county-wide issue of how to manage Knox County's growing population is a common starting point for all of them.
Tuesday morning was the culmination of a life-long dream for Andy Fox, a Republican who represents District Nine. He is a University of Tennessee-trained lawyer who grew up in the area. He said he considered going into politics after 20 years of working as a lawyer.
"It's closer to 30 years, but here I am," he said. "It happened all of a sudden and it took a long time, if that makes sense."
Fox believes the county's growth presents clear issues. Fiscal, developmental and cultural issues all need to be addressed, he said. With his first official act as a commissioner complete, he said he's ready to get to work.
"I look forward to, after we're done today, working on, probably working on an ordinance I would like to pursue," he said. "So, the work starts today. Starting today — no rest for the weary."
Shane Jackson, a Democrat and the new Knox County Commissioner for County District Four, agreed that there is work to be done immediately.
"We have a housing crisis here in Knox County," Jackson said. "We've gotta do something to provide relief to our citizens. That way, our children and our grandchildren can live here and afford to live here in the future."
The commercial banker and military veteran said he's also eager to learn how the county government works internally.
"We (the Knox County government) have over 2,000 employees, so this is like a large corporation," he said.
He also said he wants to learn from senior county employees about how the government works and then identify points of friction that could be improved. Despite the size, Jackson said his approach to problem-solving is simple.
"We bring in tax revenue and we need to make decisions that are good for our community and good for our taxpayers," he said.