Williams to Hold Second 'Meet the Mayor' Event on Saturday

East Ridge Mayor Brian Williams will hold his second “meet the mayor” event on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Local Coffee.

Mayor Williams said that he will bring East Ridge Parks and Recreation Director Adam Wilson along for this meeting, the second of numerous meetings planned where Mayor Williams will engage in a constructive dialogue with residents of the city.

Williams, who is serving his first term as mayor after having served two years as a city councilman, has emphasized that the goals of the meetings are “to initiate an open dialog with East Ridge citizens and business owners that would be the beginning of a continued collaborative effort in moving our city forward and better together.”

Williams held his first “meet the mayor” event on Jan. 12 at Local Coffee. During the two hours of open dialogue with more than two dozen interested residents, a wide-range of topics was discussed. At the top of the ad hoc agenda was the hiring of a new city manager, devising an East Ridge “vision/mission” statement, the construction of a new animal shelter and the prospect of forming a committee of citizens to evaluate and liaise with the county schools within the confines of our city.

East Ridge is currently funding improvements to Camp Jordan Park. Wilson’s presence at the event could provide residents with in-depth insight into renovations at the 250-acre park.

The meeting at Local Coffee is slated to begin at 10 a.m.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.