At this year’s TCSA Legislative Conference, a Thursday morning breakfast session brought together more than a century of combined county government experience in a single room. Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters, Tipton County Executive Jeff Huffman, and Dickson County Mayor Bob Rial each plan to retire when their terms end on August 31, 2026, and TCSA Executive Director David Conner sat down with all three for a candid conversation about what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what they’d want the next generation of county leaders to know.
The panel, titled “Legacies in Leadership,” is featured in a special edition of the Tennessee County Voice podcast. Below are some of the highlights from their conversation.
County Government Has Transformed Into Big Business
When Mayor Waters first took office in Sevier County, his entire staff consisted of a secretary, a payroll clerk, and a bookkeeper — and he personally filled the roles of emergency manager and finance director on top of his own. The numbers tell the story of how dramatically that’s changed.
“In 1978, the total budget for Sevier County was $20 million. That included the school system,” Waters said. “Today, that budget is $420 million,” spread across roughly 30 departments and 450 employees reporting to the mayor’s office…