ELIZABETHTON – Elizabethton City Manager Fred Edens said that after a lifetime of service to his country, his state and his family, it was time to retire. Edens will discuss his plans with city staff this morning.
“My whole life has been around service. I made a career out of serving my country in the Army,” said the retired major who served three tours in Vietnam as an enlisted man and he was twice wounded in combat. His tours in Vietnam included service as a member of the 75th Rangers.
After retiring from the Army, Edens said he also served his state for six years in child services. “Then I served my family by caring for my grandmother and then my mother.” His latest service will be for 4 years and 9 months as city manager of Elizabethton when he leaves that post in January.
“Over the holiday, my wife and I talked about it and I began to realize that time is short. I would like to take some of that time for myself.”
Edens said this retirement is not like the joy he felt when he left the Army. “It was a very difficult decision,” Edens said.
Mayor Curt Alexander said he learned of Edens’ decision over lunch on Monday. “He will be sorely missed,” Alexander said.
“He has been a great city manager. We have worked together for five years. He and I had a lot of disagreements, but we always had respect for each other as city manager and mayor. We appreciate all he has done for his country and his state and his city.”
Newly elected City Councilman Bob Cable said he had a “fairly long talk” with Edens on Monday afternoon. “We discussed his future and I told him I wished him the best.”
Cable occasionally was an outspoken critic of Edens when Cable operated a downtown business, but he said “we have always been able to solve the disagreements between ourselves. I do think he sometimes listened to the wrong voices, but I have no hard feelings toward him.”
Both Cable and Alexander said they thought City Finance Director Jerome Kitchens would be a good choice for interim city manager.
City Attorney Roger Day has twice served the city as interim city manager, but Alexander said “Roger has a law practice and can’t be at City Hall all the time. We need someone who is going to be there every day. Of course, it will be up to the City Council to decide.”
Cable said “we need to be very careful in choosing our next city manager.”