BRADY FLANIGANStaff Writer

It’s a year for passing around torches. The presidential election is preparing to pass the torch off for another four years. The Olympic torch passed its way through Paris. The Tullahoma city election just concluded, and the torch is passing to the next generation.

Mayor Ray Knowis will be concluding his term as mayor this week, leaving behind a legacy of community service. In an exclusive interview with the Tullahoma News, Knowis sat down to reflect on his tenure, the challenges he faced, and what it meant to lead his community through times of growth and change.

The first thing Mayor Knowis spoke to was a topic fresh on many locals’ minds: the recent election. He said, “I always feel good about the election because it’s important that people understand that they elect their leaders.” In an era of political partisanship and volatility, Knowis emphasized, “some were saying before the election that they’re just worried about the election. I say no, you don’t need to worry about the election. The majority of the people will speak. If you have an idea about your leaders, you need to vote. The people have voted, and as far as I’m concerned, the election went just fine. I think the city is out for a good future.” Mayor Knowis emphasized the importance of professionalism in politics, “we’ll have differences of opinion, but it needs to be in a civil discourse, not my-way-or-no-way.”   

Before serving as mayor from 2020 to 2024, Knowis spent five years as a member of the Board of Mayor and Alderman. After fifty-seven years as a Tullahoma resident, Knowis said he was compelled to enter politics because he “felt like he owed it to the community to offer some service.” Reflecting on his time in office, Knowis highlighted some of the accomplishments he’s most proud of. Specifically, he mentioned a motion to move local elections from August to November. This was something he was adamantly opposed to. “I wanted to keep our municipal election as non-partisan as we possibly could. If we move the election to November, it becomes highly partisan with presidential elections.” At first, he was the only member who voted against the change. The motion was approved in a six to one vote and sent to the Tennessee general assembly for ratification. After the vote returned from the general assembly, the board voted four to three not to pass the charter. This is something Knowis considers one of the highlights of his time in office. 

However, his time as mayor also came with disappointments. One mentioned in specific came during his first two years as mayor. Knowis was pushing for a comprehensive development plan known as “Tullahoma 2040”. The idea was to construct a broad strategy to promote Tullahoma’s growth for the next twenty years. After multiple town hall meetings and a $225,000 collaboration with a consulting agency, the motion was sent to the Board of Mayor and Alderman–where the entire plan was scrapped.

“When we killed the comprehensive development plan, that was my low point for me. I try to be very positive, but I was not very positive about that”, Knowis said. Despite the plan’s failure, Knowis believes the city will still see growth in the coming twenty years, regardless of who is in office. 

Now that he’s exiting office, Knowis mentioned several ways he plans to use up his time at home. “I’ve never really had an opportunity to retire. Not having something I have to do that day; I’ll find it enjoyable to spend more time with my wife. We plan to do a fair amount of travel”, he said. With laughter between his words he said, “I’ll probably be more content to sit at home and watch the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meetings on TV and just criticize the heck out of them.”

In his parting words Mayor Ray Knowis said, “I just want to express my appreciation for the privilege of serving on this board for the last nine years, four as the mayor. I’m humbled by the unwavering support of the citizens in this community.”

As Knowis stood up from his chair in a tiny conference room at city hall, he walked to the door and shut off the lights. The lights went out, but hopefully the torch won’t.