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Small business owners, industry leaders, law enforcement officers, teachers and even other elected offices like city councilpersons—these are some of the most common professions that people have before becoming a county mayor in Tennessee. But it may surprise you that a fair number of our county executives were EMTs, paramedics or first responders before seeking public office.

On the one hand, a path like this makes a lot of sense. If one is drawn to the kind of leadership that responding to literal fires, injuries and disasters requires, surely that mindset could be put to good use in a mayor’s or county executive’s office. On top of that, as far as the opioid crisis is concerned, we at SMART have found that few people are more aware of the complexities of the overdose crisis than EMTs and paramedics. That degree of expertise goes a long way towards making effective decisions on allocating the opioid settlements.

Our guests this month are Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden and Jefferson County Mayor Mark Potts, two Tennessee leaders that have dedicated their careers to public safety and now hold elected office. In this conversation, we talk about how their past experiences prepared them for mayoral life, the benefits of a career in public safety and why a career in public service is life-changing.

Learn more:

• Montgomery County’s Youth Engagement Coalition
• Brighter Tennessee article on Jefferson County’s award winning opioid settlement allocation process
• Portable Spectrometers Policy Brief

Original music by Blind House. Hosted and produced with additional scoring by Jeremy Kourvelas.