Ken Hays announced today that he will be a candidate in the March 2, 2021 election for the District 7 Chattanooga City Council seat being vacated by Erskine Oglesby. District 7 includes the East Lake, Downtown, St. Elmo and Alton Park voting precincts.
The long time Southside area resident and civic leader retired as CEO of The Enterprise Center in 2019 after a solid career in public service in Chattanooga. “I’m running because my experience uniquely qualifies me to bring our district together so that civic progress makes its way to every doorstep,” said Hays.
As Mayor Jon Kinsey’s Chief of Staff, Hays helped create the first department of neighborhood services in city government, negotiated for the purchase of land that became Enterprise South Industrial Park, and created a city-wide recreation plan to include new recreation centers.
BettyeLynn Smith, Hays' voluntary campaign treasurer says, “I don’t know anyone better than Ken at coming up with great ideas and then working with community stakeholders to make those ideas happen. I’ve seen him do it over and over again, regardless of who gets credit.”
Hays also worked to create two new downtown elementary schools, Battle and Brown Academies,and the 21st Century Waterfront while he was at River City Company. Most recently, his work at The Enterprise Center resulted in the establishment of the area’s first digital equity program, Tech Goes Home, a healthy food market, Bingo’s in Patten Towers, and the Edney Innovation Center to promote job and business growth.
“I worked with Ken for several years to help promote and grow our entrepreneurial economy” said Allison Wolfe, former Chief Operating Officer at Co. Lab. “And he was a driver behind our neighborhood MainX24 block party. You couldn’t ask for a better colleague or a better neighbor.”
Acknowledging the heavy toll Covid-19 has had on everyone, and its disproportionate impact on Black and Brown communities, The Hays' campaign pledges to work on three main community concerns to help address this impact: education and particularly early childhood programs,economic development with a strong focus on improving opportunities for people of color, and neighborhood services and quality of life.
“As I talk with people in District 7’s neighborhoods, I’m hearing about neighborhood concerns, and the priorities of each neighborhood in District 7 will be my priorities. I’ve been involved in helping neighborhoods before and look forward to being part of a team again to prove that working together works.” said Hays.
Interested parties may learn more about the campaign by visiting www.HaysForCouncil.com.
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