Andy Berke – NewDEAL

Andy Berke

Mayor / Chattanooga, TN

Andy Berke was elected Mayor of his hometown of Chattanooga in March 2013 and re-elected in 2017. Mayor Berke has relentlessly focused on making Chattanooga streets safer, families stronger, growing middle class jobs, and using taxpayer dollars efficiently, beginning with a top-to-bottom reorganization that eliminated three departments and saved taxpayer dollars in the process.

Chattanooga has seen a number of improvements in quality of life during Mayor Berke’s time in office. Through a coordinated approach with the US Attorney’s office, the Hamilton County District Attorney, and local law enforcement agencies, the City has seen remarkable year-over-year decreases in both property and violent crime. To ensure that this wave of prosperity reaches everyone in Chattanooga, the Mayor has put forth an aggressive workforce development strategy and a number of programs aimed toward increasing economic mobility. Chattanooga has also taken bold steps to further harness the unique advantage of having the fastest, cheapest, more pervasive internet in the Western Hemisphere. Following a robust public engagement process, Chattanooga established an Innovation District — 140 acres in the heart of downtown that houses a catalytic mix of start-up businesses, incubators, and accelerators alongside investors and public amenities. In addition, the City has partnered with various nonprofits, businesses, and County Government to launch Tech Goes Home (TGH), a program honored for Digital Inclusion Leadership by the National League of Cities and Google.

Andy Berke’s Ideas

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Chattanooga Open Data

Problem Currently the City of Chattanooga has very limited data made public to its citizens, hindering citizen engagement and trust in government. Solution Mayor Berke is working to release unprecedented amounts of public data in the city to spur civic innovation and economic growth. From interactive budgeting tools, to applications […]

Smart Government | Andy Berke | Mayor | Chattanooga, TN

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Git City Codes

Problem City codes are complex, confusing and often maintained by a private third party behind a paywall. How they are updated only adds to the confusion and makes it near impossible for anyone, other than a chosen few government employees, to understand the changes. As a result, there is often […]

Smart Government | Andy Berke | Mayor | Chattanooga, TN

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Radical Transparency

Problem Citizens often don’t have access to the same data and information that city officials use to make their decisions and as a result it can often be confusing how decisions are made. Solution Mayor Andy Berke has proposed the “Radical Transparency” initiative in Chattanooga, that opens up the data […]

Smart Government | Andy Berke | Mayor | Chattanooga, TN

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Empathy School

Problem Cities often create solutions to solve a problem they have with providing a service to citizens without any thought or consideration to the end user, the citizen. This internal focus creates services that work for cities but not for citizens. Solution Empathy is key to citizen centered design and […]

Smart Government | Andy Berke | Mayor | Chattanooga, TN

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Making Government Awesome

Problem Typically, government services are built after long, costly procurement processes that rarely ask users for input on their interactions with those services. Meanwhile citizens’ interactions with government are often perceived as cumbersome or inefficient. In order to increase trust in government, local agencies should place users at the center […]

Smart Government | Andy Berke | Mayor | Chattanooga, TN

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