Oak Ridge Today

Gooch seeks re-appointment as mayor

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Warren Gooch

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is seeking a fifth two-year term as mayor. Gooch has asked the other six members of Oak Ridge City Council to re-appoint him to that position on Monday. He is the only council member seeking to be appointed mayor.

Meanwhile, there are two candidates for mayor pro tem, which is like vice mayor. Council members Jim Dodson and Chuck Hope have both asked to be appointed to that position.

The council member who had been mayor pro tem, Rick Chinn, did not seek re-election in November after two four-year terms on council.

In his letter of intent for mayor, Gooch said Oak Ridge is headed in the right direction, with good news across the city from Elza Gate in the east to The Preserve in the west.

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Former Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida dies at 74

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Jerry Kuhaida

Jerry Kuhaida

Former Oak Ridge Mayor Jerry Kuhaida died at home Monday after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to his obituary. He was 74.

Kuhaida was elected to the Oak Ridge City Council twice, serving from 1991-1995 and from 1997-2003. He served one term as mayor.

Kuhaida continued his passion for community and local government development while serving as a consultant in Russia and working with the U.S. Agency for International Development/U.S. State Department, assisting the U.S. Army’s development efforts in Iraq, his obituary said.

Andrew “Jerry” Jerome Kuhaida Jr. was born on September 29, 1942, in Wheeling, West Virginia. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology and a doctorate in geography/geology, according to his obituary. He started his lengthy career in environmental restoration and hazardous waste remediation after returning to Oak Ridge in 1980, the obituary said. He served on several local boards and committees, including the Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the Scarboro Community Day Care Center Board. [Read more…]

Gooch re-appointed mayor, Chinn replaces Smith as mayor pro tem

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch (File photo by Savanna Schubert)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch has been elected by City Council to a second two-year term as mayor, and City Council member Rick Chinn was appointed mayor pro tem, replacing Ellen Smith.

No other City Council member sought to be appointed mayor, and Gooch, who was first appointed after he was elected in 2014, was unanimously elected by the new City Council.

Smith and Chinn both sought to be appointed mayor pro tem. The mayor pro tem serves as mayor when the mayor is temporarily unavailable. [Read more…]

Gooch seeks second term as mayor

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Warren Gooch (2016 file photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is seeking a second two-year term as mayor. Gooch has written a letter to the rest of the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council outlining why he is seeking re-election.

The Oak Ridge City Council is expected to appoint a mayor and mayor pro tem during its next meeting on December 12.

Four City Council members expressed an interest in serving as mayor two years ago, but so far this year, Gooch is the only one who has asked to be appointed.

The Oak Ridge City Council appoints two of its members as mayor and mayor pro tem at a regular meeting after each municipal election—they’re held every two years—and after all newly elected members have been duly qualified, according to the Oak Ridge City Charter. There was a municipal election on November 8 this year. [Read more…]

See Oak Ridge mayor play at Rock to Bach Music Festival

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Ridge City Ramblers

Members of the Ridge City Ramblers, who will play at the Rock to Bach Music Festival, are, from left, Gary Coleman, Mary Tuskan, Scott Linn, Abbie Hoerner, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Steve Reddick. (Submitted photo)

Not every city has a mayor who plays a banjo in a band.

Oak Ridge does.

Mayor Tom Beehan and five other musicians are members of The Ridge City Ramblers. The band will perform at Oak Ridge’s third Rock to Bach Music Festival on Jan. 26 at the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Pollard Auditorium.

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Letter: Mayor seeks re-appointment

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(Note: The following is a letter that Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan sent to his fellow City Council members.)

Congratulations to the winners of Tuesday’s Oak Ridge City Council election. You worked hard, and now you will work even harder as we come together on City Council to continue to move Oak Ridge in a positive direction.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the mayor of Oak Ridge for the last five years.

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