Newly appointed Knoxville City Councilman Tommy Smith was going to leave early Friday morning for a long-awaited weekend trip with his wife. The trip was to be a reprieve from the hard work of the past few months and, as it turned out, a celebration of his appointment.

Plans changed, however. Duty called as Council had an 8 a.m. legislative breakfast Friday.

Such will be life for Smith, who Council chose to fill the seat left vacant by Stephanie Welch when she accepted Mayor Indya Kincannon’s request to be the city’s chief economic and community development officer.

The lifelong South Knoxvillian will represent the district that spans all city property south of the Tennessee River and includes the University of Tennessee and Fort Sanders. He and his wife Jamie live in Island Home with their three kids.

Smith didn’t have to spend hours door knocking and didn’t have to go head-to-head with another candidate on the ballot, but he said he’s ready for the challenge.

“I feel like I’ve got a real good feel for the pockets of the community, the wounds of the community (and) the gaps that we have. This is a calling to public service and I feel a call to it.”

Welch’s term expires in 2021 and Smith intends to run then for his first full term. When he does, he will have the advantage of being an incumbent.

“First, I think it’s important, now that I’ve been appointed, that I’m accountable to the people given that it wasn’t a regular election,” he said. “The second thing is, there is plenty of opportunity to make people happy and mad. There are big decisions for the city ahead and I’m going to have to earn any vote (for me) in the future.”

Smith is vice president of marketing strategy for Ackermann PR and was part of Knox News' 2019 40 Under 40 class. He is responsible for agency and client creative growth strategies and leads the long-term strategic marketing visioning process with clients and creates brands and advertising campaigns.

He was instrumental in launching the Knoxville Chamber's young professionals conference, Endeavor Summit, and a co-creator of Knoxville’s Pedal Jam. He’s also an Emerald Youth Foundation mentor and a board member of Keep Knoxville Beautiful, among other things.

David Hayes, who ran unsuccessfully last fall for Janet Testerman's at-large seat, Janice Tocher, Anne Wallace, Rebecca Parr, Ben Ream and Kenny Bradley were also considered. The vetting and interviewing took six hours Thursday.

Smith is an active voter, according to his voter registration file.