Katie Lamb has attended her last meeting as a commissioner for the city of Collegedale. After 15 years of service, Lamb relinquished her seat to a new candidate Nov. 4.
“From nursing patients and teaching the next generation to being a friendly face and listening ear for Collegedale city employees, elected officials and residents, Lamb’s understated approach has yielded big results for the city she calls home,” Collegedale officials collectively conveyed in a news release announcing Lamb’s retirement.
A Texas native, Lamb and her husband lived and worked in five states, as well as Washington, D.C., due to his military career before they arrived in Collegedale in 1972. After attaining her master’s in nursing, Lamb taught nursing at Collegedale’s Southern Adventist University.
She eventually earned her doctorate in nursing from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and went on to serve as Southern Adventist’s dean of the School of Nursing, associate vice president for academics and dean of graduate studies before her retirement in 2006.
In 2009, Lamb turned her attention from nursing and academics to local government and was elected to the Collegedale City Commission. Her dedication to the community led her fellow commissioners to elect her as the first female mayor of Collegedale in 2014 – a position she held until she stepped back into the role of city commissioner in 2021.
According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data, Collegedale has emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities in both the Greater Chattanooga area and in Tennessee, and consistency appears on nationally ranked lists for quality of life, safety and growth.
To ensure that Collegedale’s economic growth did not come at the expense of the small town feel many residents love, Lamb as both commissioner and mayor partnered with the city to develop a vision for growth that not only meets the needs of a mounting population but also maintains the things that make Collegedale unique, noted the news release.
Lamb also led the charge to update and increase the fleet of vehicles and equipment in the city’s Public Works Department, as well as create a land use plan and design standards that would help Collegedale retain its emphasis on greenways, parks, recreation and bike trails.
Seeing that better parks and recreation would also improve health outcomes for citizens, Lamb encouraged the city to create a parks and recreation department with a professional director. The resulting community programs earned Collegedale recognition as a Healthier Tennessee community by the Governor’s Foundation.
Other projects included the 56,000-square-foot Collegedale Commons and Founder’s Hall event space, and the Imagination Station, an inclusive playground that received the Inclusion National Demonstration Site Award.
Lamb also helped Collegedale navigate multi-level discussions with a city stakeholder who wanted to donate a 10-acre park to the city. Little Debbie Park opened in 2023.
Additionally, when the Collegedale Public Library reverted to municipal control after 50 years in the county system, Lamb was instrumental in passing a special tax increase to keep it open, the news release reports. Within a month, the library was running independently and presently is ranked fourth in the state in terms of circulation per capita overall and third in children’s circulation per capita.
Lamb was also beneficial in helping the city move to a four-day workweek, the news release states.
In 2023, the Tennessee Municipal League awarded Lamb its fifth annual Bob Kirk Local Government Leadership Award. The award is presented to a council member, alderman or commissioner who is at least in their second term of service to their municipality and has shown themselves to be an outstanding public servant.
Lamb never sought the spotlight, the news release continues, but instead projected strong ethics, patience and kindness, and was a confidant and friend to city employees and fellow commissioners.
“She is truly a model to emulate as a city commissioner and an effective leader,” Collegedale officials say.
Lamb also demonstrated her resolve to place others first when she cared for her grandchildren while her daughter and son-in-law were on Navy deployment.
“Her dedication to other people has made Collegedale a better place,” the release concludes.