Once and future Knoxville mayor candidate Madeline Rogero took her first official step down the path to the 2011 political season today, naming a treasurer. She is the third prospective mayoral candidate to do so, following City Councilwoman Marilyn Roddy and County Commissioner Ivan Harmon. In a brief interview, Rogero says the move was a practical one: With the county elections and gubernatorial primary over, people are starting to think about next year's elections--including people looking for candidates to support. "I've had a lot of folks that are ready to roll, ready to write a check," she says. Now they can. (Rogero is the only local political figure we know who regularly--and probably wisely--includes a helpful pronunciation guide for her name on press releases. It's rō-hair-rō.) Her treasurer, by the way, is David A. Patterson, the former director of UT's Graduate School of Planning.
The full announcement:
ROGERO APPOINTS TREASURER
Today Madeline Rogero filed the paperwork to appoint David A. Patterson as treasurer for her 2011 campaign for Knoxville Mayor.
Patterson is a Fountain City resident and the former director of the Graduate School of Planning at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville (UTK). Patterson's professional career includes serving as associate professor of economics at UTK; chief of corporate planning staff and deputy manager of community and economic development for the Tennessee Valley Authority; and executive director of the Tennessee Technology Foundation. Patterson is the former board chair of St. Mary's Health System, as well as the University of Tennessee Research Corporation, Fairview Technology Foundation, and CROET (an economic development agency in Oak Ridge). He is an investor in several family businesses in Knoxville.
"David's extensive network and his regional economic development and business experience adds great value to my campaign team," said Rogero.
Rogero serves as director of community development for the City of Knoxville, having been appointed to this position in December 2006 by Mayor Haslam, her opponent in the 2003 mayoral race. She will resign her position in January to campaign full-time.
"I am excited about running for Mayor again," Rogero said. "We will build on the great support I had from voters seven years ago, and demonstrate that my 30-plus years of executive management experience, city planning degree, and grassroots neighborhood credentials make me the best candidate to lead Knoxville for the next four years."
Prior to joining the Haslam administration, Rogero was a consultant to Capital One Financial Corporation, America's Promise, and other private and non-profit corporations. She served as executive director of several nonprofits including Knoxville's Promise - The Alliance for Youth, Dolly Parton's Dollywood Foundation, and the UT Community Partnership Center.
ogero was a Knox County Commissioner from 1990-98, representing District 2 in North Knoxville. She chose not to run again after two terms in support of the term-limits referendum that was passed by voters in 1994 but not enforced until 2007.
Rogero was a grants consultant with Levi Strauss Foundation, and a planner at Tennessee Valley Authority and East Tennessee Community Design Center. She believes strongly in volunteerism and postponed her college studies for three years in the mid-70's to help farm workers improve their working and living conditions.
She holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a B.A. in Political Science from Furman University. Her 1987 master's thesis, A Proposal to Foster Civic Leadership and Participation in Knoxville, sparked a series of public discussions co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and Metropolitan Planning Commission.
Rogero is co-chair of the Mayor's Energy and Sustainability Task Force; serves on the leadership team of Together, Healthy Knox; and is a board member of the South Knoxville Foundation and the Partnership for Neighborhood Improvement. She has served on numerous boards such as Knoxville Transportation Authority, Project GRAD Knoxville, Metro YMCA, Nine Counties One Vision Youth Task Force, KORRnet, Character Counts, 211 - Knoxville Information and Referral, Inc., and the National Advisory Council of America's Promise. She is a former board member and graduate of Leadership Knoxville (Class of 1992) and graduate of CAC's Community Leadership (Class of 1994).
Rogero and her husband Gene Monaco live in South Knoxville and have five grown children and 2 grandchildren.
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.