Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is filling five roles in his administration by promoting current staff.
Kelly has named Karitsa Mosley Jones as administrator of the Department of Early Learning.
Mosley Jones has been working since August to establish the mayor’s Community Forward partnership with Hamilton County Schools.
She is the District 5 representative on the Hamilton County School Board and was the first employee of the Office of Early Learning when it was established in 2017.
Mosley Jones is a licensed social worker. She earned her master’s degree in social work and a degree in sociology and criminal justice from Alabama A&M University.
Kelly also named Chris Anderson as his senior adviser for legislative initiatives.
Anderson, who was formerly the administrator of the Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance, will work with City Council to overhaul city ordinances in an effort to promote access to affordable housing, the Mayor’s Office explains.
Anderson served on the City Council 2013-2017, serving as chair of the Council’s Economic and Community Development Committee.
Kelly tapped Tim Moreland to fill Anderson’s former role as administrator of the Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance.
Moreland is the deputy administrator of the Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance, where he helps direct the city’s innovation and performance efforts.
Moreland previously was the founding director of the Office of Performance Management and Open Data for the City of Chattanooga, where he worked to make the city more data driven in its delivery of services.
Kelly also appointed Dylan Rivera as the director of policy planning and implementation – the role Brooke Satterfield vacated.
Rivera will help guide strategic initiatives, working with departments across the city to help implement Kelly’s One Chattanooga strategy, which “describes the direction, priorities, values and initiatives that define a vision of a community where all Chattanoogans can thrive and prosper,” states an October 2021 document from the mayor titled “One Chattanooga Strategic Plan.”
Rivera formerly served as the director of innovation special projects in the Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance and worked as assistant political director for Kelly’s mayoral campaign.
In other roles, Rivera served as project manager for the Southeast Tennessee Development District and as lead researcher for the prescription drug monitoring program, EirSystems.
He attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he studied public policy and criminal justice reform.
Kelly also appointed Kimberly Strong to serve as constituent services coordinator. In this role, Strong will support both the mayor and members of City Council by responding to resident inquiries, calls and complaints.
Strong has worked in various roles within the city since 1993, including public information specialist for the City of Chattanooga Water Quality Program. Before that role, she served as the recycling coordinator for the city, where she oversaw a $750,000 budget and ensured compliance with local, state and federal guidelines.
Strong has been honored as a Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year and a Public Works Employee of the Year and has served as chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion committee for the American Public Works Association.
Source: Office of the Mayor