Georgiana Vines: Marshall Stair joins list of those running for Knoxville mayor

Georgiana Vines | Special to USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee

Knoxville Councilman at-Large Marshall Stair, term-limited from seeking re-election in 2019, is joining a growing list to run for Knoxville mayor next year. There has been much speculation that he would be a candidate.

Stair said in an interview that he will file the paperwork with the Knox County Election Commission Monday, naming architect John Sanders his campaign treasurer. The filing date is intentional, he said, because the city of Knoxville primary will be held exactly in one year on Aug. 27, 2019.

“I thought the time is right to begin to have a discussion for the vision of Knoxville. All those candidates (in the November election) and their supporters will be having a lot of events but we (also) will begin hosting a lot of meetings, building a platform and having a robust discussion on where our city needs to go,” Stair said. The activities will become more aggressive after the first of the year, he added.

The 40-year-old civil litigation attorney is the fourth this summer to announce a treasurer, the first step in raising money. Others who earlier announced their treasurers are Eddie Mannis, former chief operating officer and deputy to Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and chairman of the Metropolitan Airport Authority board; Indya Kincannon, former Knox County school board member and a former special program manager for Rogero, and Mike Chase, local restaurateur.

Stair said it was difficult to say how much money he needs to raise to be successful but it would be “in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.” He also said he didn’t think money alone would win the race and social media will play an important part.

During his nearly seven years on City Council, he said he was glad to be a part of changes to the zoning code that makes areas more walkable and has supported reducing commercial sign clutter and improving transit. He wants to raise a “Where’s My Bus” effort to make it more high profile, he said. The zoning code that is undergoing revision is something he said he is “passionate about.”

He also wants to expand small business development, particularly in the food and beverage industry, which continues to grow, he said. He’s interested in looking into body cameras for police officer and recognizes some privacy issues need to be resolved, he said.

“I feel great about what’s happened in the city and being part of it. Serving on Council, I understand the past but look forward to laying out (the future) over the next year. Right now the challenge for the next administration is to keep momentum going and address issues that we know are coming, like affordable housing and transit,” he said.

He also said it’s important to make sure the success of Knoxville through investments is felt by all of its citizens, which at the moment is not the case, he said. “I’ve been listening. It’s a challenge that investments improve their lives and are not for newcomers or someone else,” he said.

Stair is a native Knoxvillian though he left the city to study at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., where he received a BA with honors in 2000. He traveled the world, including spending more than a year in Mexico City and learned to speak fluent Spanish, an asset in a community with a growing Hispanic population. He returned to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee College of Law from which he received a J.D. with honors in 2008. He works in the law firm of Lewis Thomason King Krieg & Waldrop.

While serving on Council since 2011, he has chaired the Public Property Naming Committee and is chair of the City Audit committee. He is an advocate for pension reform and responsible fiscal management, he said.

Stair said his chief strategist will be his wife, Natalie. The couple lives with their six-month old daughter, Stella Dorothy, in Historic Old North Knoxville.

Besides the office of Knoxville mayor, the following positions will be on the ballot in 2019: City County at-Large, Seats A, B and C; 5th District City Council and Municipal Judge. March 18, 2019, is the first day to pick up a nominating petition from the Election Commission office.

CURRENT ELECTIONS: Knox County Mayor-elect Glenn Jacobs and other newly elected and re-elected Knox County officials will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Friday in the main assembly room of the City County Building. The event is open to the public and will be streamed live online at www.ctvknox.org.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.