The Upper Cumberland Development District installed new officers last week.
While the agency has seen its share of controversy in the last few months, officials vowed to move forward in the coming year, speaking of a more open and united UCDD in the future.
The agency's annual meeting, held Thursday at Nick's Restaurant in Cookeville, saw the installation of Cannon County Executive Mike Gannon as chairman, Overton County Executive Ron Cyrus as vice chairman, White County Executive Herd Sullivan as treasurer, and Marvin Lusk as secretary.
Interim Director Randy Williams told the assembly that everyone involved had spent too much time and effort on the 44-year-old agency to see it fail now, and that measures would be taken to bring the UCDD back up to speed.
“I'm just going to be straightforward with you, everybody knows what we've been through,” Williams said. “It's no secret. We're not running away from it, we're not hiding from it, we're going to fix it.
“A while back, I wondered if it could even be fixed,” he continued. “But I thought about it and realized that I've got a lot of time and energy invested in this place.
“Our mission statement, to improve the quality of life in the Upper Cumberland, is what we're about,” Williams said at the meeting. “That's what we've always been about and nothing will change about that. We as a body are dedicated to those ideas. It's about time we refocused on that goal and everybody work together. Butting heads is counterproductive.”
Other members shared Williams’ desire to bring things back into line at the agency.
“We all need to speak from our heart, we all need to be honest and open,” DeKalb County Executive Mike Foster said. “We keep hearing the word transparency. It's only good if it exists in the real world and we utilize it. It doesn't do anything or anybody good to keep it in your back pocket. It has to be exercised every day. You can't selectively be transparent. You either are or you aren't.
“There were a lot of days that I wanted to throw up my hands and go home," Foster continued. “By staying here and the rest of the board members staying here, we're showing you that we value this agency. We value the employees at this agency. We care very much about the jobs you do. We care about everything about this agency. We're tired of being misled. We're tired of the embarrassment. It's time that we did something to correct it. We will come through this stronger. We will come through this a better organization than we were or are. It's time we moved on and quit this bitterness and bickering and accusations we're all making.”