WEBVTT - Chattanooga Mayor on Bridging the Digital Divide

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's get right to it because join us once again

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<v Speaker 2>is Tim Kelly. He's the mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Back

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<v Speaker 2>in our studio. Chattanooga, by the way, was among the

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<v Speaker 2>first cities selected back in twenty fifteen to participate in

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities initiatives, and then in twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty one, Mayor Kelly named as a member of the

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<v Speaker 2>fifth class of Global mayors to participate in the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 2>Harvard City Leadership Initiative program. And this is of course

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<v Speaker 2>done with Bloomberg Philanthropies. We just like full disclosure to

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<v Speaker 2>put it out there. Mayor Kelly, welcome back, Thank you,

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<v Speaker 2>great to be back. Well, it's great to have you here.

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<v Speaker 2>It's been about a year.

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<v Speaker 1>It has been.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, what's changed.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I think we're you know, we're back on the

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<v Speaker 1>good foot. I think there were a game as we

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<v Speaker 1>were talking about. There's a lot of anxiety a year

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<v Speaker 1>ago coming out of COVID. But Chattanooga's in a good place.

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<v Speaker 1>It's great to see Manhattan in a good place.

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<v Speaker 2>We're getting there.

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<v Speaker 1>We're getting there. Yes, vacancy still right, but you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we've got again our world famous Internet's gotten even faster

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<v Speaker 1>in Chattanooga since we last.

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<v Speaker 2>Spoke, which was an initiative that we talked about last time,

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<v Speaker 2>and you guys were really working on it.

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<v Speaker 1>We did, and we're up to twenty five gigs of

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<v Speaker 1>speed and I have a new quantum initiative we're working

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<v Speaker 1>on there. We have the world's first commercially available quantum network.

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<v Speaker 1>Now all the.

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<v Speaker 2>Working from home folks or what is that?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, the quantum network is going to be really more

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<v Speaker 1>for research. At this point, we have yet to see

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<v Speaker 1>where that will bear fruit. But again, the fast internet,

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<v Speaker 1>and I should say symmetrical fast internet, has really been

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<v Speaker 1>helpful with the work from Home group. We had a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of folks come in during the pandemic and they

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<v Speaker 1>are staying.

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<v Speaker 3>To Carol's point though, on that initiative, how is it

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<v Speaker 3>impacting the demographic of workers in the city.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's really interesting because, frankly, from a mayoral perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>it's hard to get our arms around, right, we have

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<v Speaker 1>this long tail of talent that's there in typical economic development,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you have a new CEO, you come and

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<v Speaker 1>talk to everybody. There's five hundred people. We don't have

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<v Speaker 1>a really great way of getting our arms around you know,

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<v Speaker 1>who's there and what talent they do have to leverage

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<v Speaker 1>those talents. I mean, I bump into the people.

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<v Speaker 2>Don't have a way.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, there's not a there's not a flagg to run

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<v Speaker 1>up the flag bol to say hey, all the new people,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, come in and introduce yourselves. Right, but they

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<v Speaker 1>are there, and they're they're adding to you know, as

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<v Speaker 1>we run across them, adding them, weaving them into the

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<v Speaker 1>civic life of the city. And it's it's making Chattanooga

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<v Speaker 1>better place.

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<v Speaker 2>What's the toughest part of being a mayor right now?

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm just thinking, you just put out a.

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<v Speaker 1>New budget, you know, I was talking to with the

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<v Speaker 1>City Leadership Initiative, which is fantastic and we're forever grateful

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<v Speaker 1>to Bloomberg for that. To a public health professor who said,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the pandemic was bad enough in its own right,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think what people have forgotten it's a bit

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<v Speaker 1>like somebody put their hand in the middle of a

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<v Speaker 1>waterbed and just pushed down right. So the at the

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<v Speaker 1>margins in particular, cities are still dealing with the wreckage

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<v Speaker 1>of in addiction and mental health. I mean, we know

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<v Speaker 1>where homelessness has been a terrible problem, so all of

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<v Speaker 1>those issues. I mean, we are still in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>of a mental health crisis nationally, I think, and I

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<v Speaker 1>think there are a lot of cities that are coping

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<v Speaker 1>with that well and so not so well. So we've

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<v Speaker 1>had a good track record. We were able to reduce

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<v Speaker 1>our point in time count with our un sheltered population

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<v Speaker 1>by almost forty percent, so you know, we're making good

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<v Speaker 1>progress there. But it's tough for mayors. It's tough because

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<v Speaker 1>it's our responsibility.

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<v Speaker 2>It was interesting I was talking with someone from Milkin

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<v Speaker 2>yesterday who's created a mental illness app, and one of

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<v Speaker 2>the things that he mentioned is the shortage of therapists.

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<v Speaker 2>That's even in an online app, that you just don't

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<v Speaker 2>have enough therapists out there.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And when I came into office, we established an

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<v Speaker 1>Office of Community Health, and that is my vision for

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<v Speaker 1>that department as we pivot out of COVID, is really

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<v Speaker 1>to focus on mental health and emotional health. And we've

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<v Speaker 1>got to figure out a way to get more people

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<v Speaker 1>into the industry. Because you're right on a per capita basis.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, Chattanooga is way way behind the curve, and

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<v Speaker 1>so that's the first step to solving it.

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<v Speaker 2>I want to I want to follow on that only

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<v Speaker 2>because also at milk and I moderated a panel in

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<v Speaker 2>real estate and one of the things that they talked

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<v Speaker 2>about again is that there's not enough workers in the

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<v Speaker 2>housing industry to build homes. And the net net of

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<v Speaker 2>that was and I'm curious how you feel about this

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<v Speaker 2>is immigration and just saying we need to kind of

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<v Speaker 2>open up the border to let folks in well, especially

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<v Speaker 2>when we've got an aging demographic population here.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, again, I'm an extremely practical person. I'm a

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<v Speaker 1>big gug and Francis Harrez and it says it all

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<v Speaker 1>the time the Mary Miami. But there are really three

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<v Speaker 1>political parties in the United States, right, Republicans, Demmocrats and mayors.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we have to be relentlessly practical, and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>clearly we need meaningful integration reform. I will say, in Chattanooga,

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<v Speaker 1>we started a career construction academy to train kids as

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<v Speaker 1>they you know, it's something that they can go to

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<v Speaker 1>while they're still in high school to learn the trades

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<v Speaker 1>and try to build a pipeline of talent into that industry.

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<v Speaker 1>And we're taking a similar approach across our educational system

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<v Speaker 1>to try to meet, you know, the needs of industry.

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<v Speaker 3>Can I talk to you about another issue that you

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<v Speaker 3>mentioned earlier, which is mental health specifically related to drug use.

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<v Speaker 3>So you know that's an issue for the entire nation,

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<v Speaker 3>but I feel like cities are like little nations. You're

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<v Speaker 3>the president of your city sort of. Can you talk

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<v Speaker 3>to me a little bit about how you're thinking about

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<v Speaker 3>opioid overdoses.

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<v Speaker 1>And what can be done to Yeah, look, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>it's a terrible problem and and you see it move

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<v Speaker 1>around on the map, and again we're dealing with it

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<v Speaker 1>in Chattanooga, and you know the all of our first

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<v Speaker 1>responders of course are carrying narcan, and uh, it's it's tough.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's been really really hard on on our

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<v Speaker 1>police and our paramedics and first responders. We we have

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<v Speaker 1>to we need it's you know, we're Tennessee. Unfortunately it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a Medicare expansion state makes it more difficult, and

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<v Speaker 1>we we are doing our best to keep up. We're

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<v Speaker 1>fortunate Chattanooga has a lot of great philanthropic assets, one

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<v Speaker 1>of which is uh uh, the Chattanooga Area Drug Addiction Center,

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<v Speaker 1>a treatment center. But the beds are full, so you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we need more beds and we and we need more help.

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<v Speaker 2>What go ahead, man, you know, you go.

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<v Speaker 3>I just wonder what's missing, right, Like, what help would

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<v Speaker 3>you want from the federal level.

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<v Speaker 1>Even funding, you know, funding for for for training in

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<v Speaker 1>and for and for treatment. I think, uh again, our

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<v Speaker 1>strategy around around the unsheltered population is really we bought

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<v Speaker 1>we bought a motel. Now this is not up and running,

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<v Speaker 1>but it will be for for what's called permanent support

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<v Speaker 1>of housing, right, which essentially is proctered housing to get

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<v Speaker 1>folks back on their feet and get them the help

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<v Speaker 1>they need. Whether that's it's it's generally right, it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>not one thing, it's many things. And there's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the sort of comorbidities I suppose you'd say with

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<v Speaker 1>addiction and mental health. Uh So that's that's the next

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<v Speaker 1>step for us and filling out our what we can

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<v Speaker 1>control in terms of our strategy.

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<v Speaker 2>Why is it happening still? Why is there such addictions?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I'm not a you know mental health expert. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a mayor. We have to be a little good

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<v Speaker 1>at everything. But I think it's hard for people who

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<v Speaker 1>are doing well and not in a state of crisis

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<v Speaker 1>and not on the margins to relate. But of course,

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<v Speaker 1>at any given time, there are a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>struggling for whatever reason. And again, I think the COVID

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<v Speaker 1>crisis was hugely disruptive and it just really flipped a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people over the edge.

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<v Speaker 2>So you think that's what it is.

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<v Speaker 1>I do.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you think we still over subscribe or prescribe?

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<v Speaker 1>You know, I don't. I don't. I don't think I

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<v Speaker 1>have a prescription. I'm not a you know.

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<v Speaker 2>But we've been talking about this for a while and

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<v Speaker 2>I agree like more treatment centers and you know, training

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<v Speaker 2>so that people can deal with it. But I always

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<v Speaker 2>think about how do we get to the core of

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<v Speaker 2>what creates the problem?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I noticed recently that the state of Wyoming, a

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<v Speaker 1>very republican state, has it's a really interesting article in

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<v Speaker 1>the Casper Star Tribune taken a different approach to mental health,

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<v Speaker 1>where again not something you would expect to see, and

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<v Speaker 1>I have a republican state is really focusing on the

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<v Speaker 1>social determinant of health. And that was great news to

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<v Speaker 1>me because ultimately it's practical and common sensical and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>hopeful we can take a similar approach across the country.

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<v Speaker 3>And we're going to come back and talk a little

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<v Speaker 3>bit more. But I feel like it all must go

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<v Speaker 3>down to prioritizing and budgeting. So when you're looking at

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<v Speaker 3>your sort of balance sheet for the city, what is

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<v Speaker 3>your thinking on how you're going to allocate your resources

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<v Speaker 3>and where you're going to take from to give from,

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<v Speaker 3>given that the issues are always changing.

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<v Speaker 2>Because you have to have a balanced budgeting of course.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and we just had a budget and unfortunately it

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<v Speaker 1>included some staffing cuts and it's tough, so always always tough.

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<v Speaker 1>But so again Office of Community Health and I established

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<v Speaker 1>coming in will be We have also of Community Development Department,

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<v Speaker 1>and again my focus is to get them focused on

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<v Speaker 1>mental health in the neighborhoods, right, I mean establishing those

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<v Speaker 1>sort of things that bring people together. The Surgeon General

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<v Speaker 1>is talked a lot about this epidemic of loneliness, right,

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<v Speaker 1>bringing people back together and again focusing on those social

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<v Speaker 1>determinants of health. It's interesting as part of the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Philanthropies program. We had an innovation cohort looking at the

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<v Speaker 1>causes of youth gun violence, which is a terrible epidemic,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly in the sow And guess what they found that

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<v Speaker 1>it's young men in crisis right, that need mentorship, that

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<v Speaker 1>need people to talk to. And so that's the strategy

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to take, and that is the focus that

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<v Speaker 1>will take from a budgetary purge.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like we hear that a lot. Yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 2>young men in crisis, and so they're ending up going

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<v Speaker 2>into some really tough paths. Let's get back to our guest,

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<v Speaker 2>Tim Kelly, mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, here in our Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 2>Interactive Brokers studio. As we said, he participated in the

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative program on his city has

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<v Speaker 2>also been singled out before that, and this is all

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<v Speaker 2>part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies programs. Mayor Kelly, a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of different issues. I was just coming back from Milkin.

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<v Speaker 2>We talked about regional banking, we talked about concerns about

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<v Speaker 2>real estate, particularly office. There's a lot of focus on

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<v Speaker 2>green technology. I want to go through a couple of things.

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<v Speaker 2>If we may First of all, regional banking. Is it

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<v Speaker 2>impacting you guys at all?

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't seen anything in chattanoog along that along those lines. No,

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<v Speaker 1>thank goodness, I think again. I saw the news on

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<v Speaker 1>TD and First Horizon. But to my knowledge, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the wheels are still moving along nicely in our part

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<v Speaker 1>of the.

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<v Speaker 2>World, and the economy is moving along in banks are

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<v Speaker 2>lending and it is I mean on mortgages and being

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<v Speaker 2>able to.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, unemployment rate and Chattanooga is a tenth of a

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<v Speaker 1>point away from its lowest ever rate. So I mean

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<v Speaker 1>the economy is chugging along nicely in.

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<v Speaker 2>Chattanooga, and I know, lower than the national rate.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes.

0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.560
<v Speaker 2>Let's also talk about so the outlook in terms of

0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.240
<v Speaker 2>when we talk about recession inflationary pressures, you guys are

0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:48.720
<v Speaker 2>doing okay?

0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, No, I think so. I mean, again, we've obviously

0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.760
<v Speaker 1>seen inflationary pressure there. I mean, our budget was when

0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.000
<v Speaker 1>I came into office, I had to give twenty four

0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.840
<v Speaker 1>percent raises across the board to our police and fire

0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.880
<v Speaker 1>and public works employees. And it was tough because again,

0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.280
<v Speaker 1>costs kept going up. And so we just did a

0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.120
<v Speaker 1>budget that includes not only a step plan, but a

0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:12.960
<v Speaker 1>but a but a cola. But it's tough. It's not catastrophically,

0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:17.440
<v Speaker 1>it's tough. I hear tougher stories around other cities from

0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:21.520
<v Speaker 1>other mayors, but uh, we're managing affordable housing. Big issue

0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.840
<v Speaker 1>for you guys. That is a big issue. And again

0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.800
<v Speaker 1>last year's budget I set aside again not a huge

0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.760
<v Speaker 1>number for a city like Chattanooga. It is, however, one

0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:34.320
<v Speaker 1>hundred million dollar fund to subsidize that, and managed to

0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.599
<v Speaker 1>recruit a really great Chief Housing officer out of the

0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.280
<v Speaker 1>City of New Orleans named Nicole Hammond, who is creating

0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.439
<v Speaker 1>a toolbox for us to create in subsidize affordable housing.

0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:48.360
<v Speaker 1>And we've been able to create about uh let's see

0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.720
<v Speaker 1>that last year and initiear's budget about a thousand units.

0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.199
<v Speaker 1>And we'll continue on that role.

0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.199
<v Speaker 2>Sonship both.

0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:58.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we're looking at some shared equity models for ownership

0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.640
<v Speaker 1>because one of our goals is obviously to close wealth

0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:02.760
<v Speaker 1>gaps in our community, and so I don't see how

0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:06.160
<v Speaker 1>we do that without finding ways to, you know, have

0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:11.439
<v Speaker 1>the historically disadvantaged populations participate in in in the equity

0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:11.920
<v Speaker 1>of home.

0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:16.199
<v Speaker 3>Ownership paper, we did a Business Week story about Austin, Texas,

0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.120
<v Speaker 3>which we're just talking about and how a lot of

0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.480
<v Speaker 3>the new housing there happens to be for very high

0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.560
<v Speaker 3>income individuals because of you're a developer, why would you

0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.720
<v Speaker 3>not right market to the highest bidder?

0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.520
<v Speaker 1>Well, that's right. I mean, if you're gonna, you know

0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.680
<v Speaker 1>you're gonna, you've got five hundred square feet, why would

0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.079
<v Speaker 1>you not sell it to the ice builder? So I

0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:35.760
<v Speaker 1>think that's where wise thoughtful you know, government can can

0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.760
<v Speaker 1>intervene and essentially work with We're in the process of

0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.600
<v Speaker 1>rewriting our zoning code. Uh. And again, I mean I'm

0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.559
<v Speaker 1>not a I'm a market guy. We're going to work

0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.480
<v Speaker 1>with the market, but I think we can create thoughtful

0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.440
<v Speaker 1>incentives and I think probably the easiest way to do

0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.640
<v Speaker 1>that is to deep risk investment or work with a

0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:54.560
<v Speaker 1>capital stack to to to make sure that you know

0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:59.560
<v Speaker 1>either you're guaranteeing a certain return or or doing loan

0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.600
<v Speaker 1>loss funds to make sure that investments are safer.

0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:05.760
<v Speaker 3>So, if you're a market skuy, how do you not

0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.240
<v Speaker 3>prioritize grow, grow, grow, which would turn you into the

0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:10.240
<v Speaker 3>eventual Austin.

0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.240
<v Speaker 1>Well, again, my parks and Outdoors manager Scott Martin says

0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.000
<v Speaker 1>this all the time, Like Bigger is not better. Better

0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.080
<v Speaker 1>is better? Right? We have Nashville to our northwest, we

0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.560
<v Speaker 1>have Atlanta to our southeast. We're not going to be

0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:24.920
<v Speaker 1>those cities. We don't want to be those cities. Chattoo

0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.240
<v Speaker 1>is a very green city. It's a beautiful city. I'd

0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.560
<v Speaker 1>like to think we have, you know, the crown and

0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.280
<v Speaker 1>our the jewel in our crown rather really our quality

0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.439
<v Speaker 1>of life. And so it is somewhat of a Goldilocks problem, right,

0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.440
<v Speaker 1>I mean, we want to make sure that we don't

0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.520
<v Speaker 1>endanger that. We're already dealing with more congestion and we

0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.200
<v Speaker 1>have had a lot of folks move in. But you

0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:44.920
<v Speaker 1>know that's my job to manage that.

0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.160
<v Speaker 2>So much freight goes through you tons man. I saw

0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.720
<v Speaker 2>a statistic roughly eighty percent of the nation's freight passing

0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:52.840
<v Speaker 2>through your city en route to its final destination.

0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:54.040
<v Speaker 1>Yes, it's a big issue.

0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.240
<v Speaker 2>It's a big issue. So how do you manage that?

0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:00.240
<v Speaker 2>How do you benefit but also protect? As you say,

0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:01.520
<v Speaker 2>what is wonderful about the city.

0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.640
<v Speaker 1>Well, we are working with an organization called Thrive Regional

0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Partnership to look at ways that we can make again.

0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.720
<v Speaker 1>It would take many, many years to build a bypass

0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:13.440
<v Speaker 1>around Chattanooga. But the Governor Bill Lee uh As in

0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.200
<v Speaker 1>this year's budget put forth a plan for choice lanes,

0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.920
<v Speaker 1>which which the state of Texas already has, you know,

0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.200
<v Speaker 1>uh cleverly named right they're not they're they're they're toll

0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.800
<v Speaker 1>lanes by choice. That will certainly help. And I think

0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.200
<v Speaker 1>I think Chattanooga is going to get some priority in

0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.880
<v Speaker 1>that regard, and and and and that will certainly help. Uh. Again,

0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.720
<v Speaker 1>our our Chattanoog is a really you know, mountainous place

0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:36.400
<v Speaker 1>with a lot of curvy roads going through, so it's

0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:37.480
<v Speaker 1>a it's a pain point for us.

0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.720
<v Speaker 2>So I love what you said earlier about three parties Republicans, Democrats,

0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.320
<v Speaker 2>and mayor. Yes you are an independent.

0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:46.160
<v Speaker 1>I am, you know again, well, because again I was

0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.520
<v Speaker 1>very much taken with this book that Bruce Catz wrote

0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.960
<v Speaker 1>called The New Localism, and it was right after Trump

0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.800
<v Speaker 1>got elected. Not to go there, but let's just say

0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.760
<v Speaker 1>that I was kind of mortified by the by the

0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.000
<v Speaker 1>the leadership of nothing else, the style and the and

0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.760
<v Speaker 1>the you know, the thesis of that book really is

0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.720
<v Speaker 1>that cities have more power than they've ever had. And again,

0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.080
<v Speaker 1>this is a very bloomberg thought as well, because of

0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.520
<v Speaker 1>revolutions and technology and finance to improve the lives of

0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.640
<v Speaker 1>their citizens. And look, what percent of the GDP in

0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.440
<v Speaker 1>the world is produced in cities, The vast majority of

0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.200
<v Speaker 1>innovation is produced in cities, and that we're at a

0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.280
<v Speaker 1>time when democracy is under threat. I mean, it's this

0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.400
<v Speaker 1>is the time where cities need to shine. And so yeah,

0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.800
<v Speaker 1>I was very taken by that, and it was a

0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.760
<v Speaker 1>way for me to very frankly duck out of the

0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.600
<v Speaker 1>partisan mess and focus on what was in front of me,

0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.440
<v Speaker 1>which was making my city the best city it could be.

0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:44.920
<v Speaker 2>Sounds like you could take that on the campaign trail.

0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.680
<v Speaker 2>What are your aspirations longer term?

0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.480
<v Speaker 1>You're two years in, right, Yes, I mean my aspirations

0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.520
<v Speaker 1>are to make chat and you'll get the best city

0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.840
<v Speaker 1>in America and then I'll worry about the rest of it.

0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:56.400
<v Speaker 2>And one of the parties close you up and says,

0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:56.880
<v Speaker 2>hate Tim.

0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:00.560
<v Speaker 1>You know, I just can't see it, honestly, Carolina. I mean, look,

0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.400
<v Speaker 1>I first have to get permission from my wife, which

0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.400
<v Speaker 1>would be incredibly difficult. But I mean I would never

0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.800
<v Speaker 1>say never. I would never say that, you know. But again,

0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:11.920
<v Speaker 1>I've also learned not to take my off the ball,

0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.120
<v Speaker 1>and I am one hundred percent focused on my city.

0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.040
<v Speaker 1>That's what I love and so that's where my attention is.

0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.600
<v Speaker 2>Well, this is really fun. Thank you for always finding

0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.920
<v Speaker 2>time to stop by and talk to us, because I

0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.320
<v Speaker 2>agree that I think talking to our mayors tells us

0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.160
<v Speaker 2>so much about what's really going on on the ground.

0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.400
<v Speaker 1>It's where it's at. I agree, and I appreciate the opportunity.

0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:30.880
<v Speaker 2>But you're still like New York Sushia here.

0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:35.280
<v Speaker 1>Love it. Jim Kelly be well, Thank you man, Safe travels.

0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.000
<v Speaker 2>Great to see you, Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Back here

0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.120
<v Speaker 2>in our Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio, you're listening and watching

0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.520
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Business Week on radio on YouTube on Bloomberg Originals

0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.400
<v Speaker 2>Carol Masser along with Madison Mills and this is Bloomberg