County and Municipal Governments

GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENSHIP

Greene Governed By County, 4 Municipal Systems

The four municipalities of Greene County operate under their own individual governmental regulations, while Greene County as a whole has its own government.

The municipalities in Greene County are Greeneville, the county seat, and the smaller incorporated towns of Baileyton and Mosheim and the city of Tusculum.

GREENE COUNTY

LEADERSHIP: The county is governed by the Greene County Commission, a 21-member elected legislative body. The senior administrator and chief financial officer for the county is the county mayor, who serves full-time.

The Greene County Planning Commission administers landuse planning, including making recommendations to the Greene County Commission on zoning matters, and has approval authority over subdivisions that are outside the jurisdictions of the various municipal governments.

ELECTIONS: County commissioners are elected by district (there are seven commission districts, with three commissioners per district) to serve a fouryear term. To find out your commission district, call the Greene County Election Commission office at 798-1715, or visit www.greenecountytngovt.com.

The county mayor and all other countywide officeholders are elected at the same time, with the exception of the property assessor, who is elected to a four-year term two years after the county commission and county mayor are elected.

Greene County holds a general election on the first Thursday in August in evennumbered years.

MEETINGS: The county commission meets every month on the third Monday at 6 p.m. at the Greene County Courthouse.

GREENEVILLE

LEADERSHIP: Greeneville, the county seat, is governed by an elected board of a mayor and four aldermen. The members also serve on various municipal boards and commissions.

The city administrator, a full-time employee, is the chief administrative officer of the town and reports to the Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The police department and fire department (except for chiefs) are covered under the Greeneville Civil Service system, which is overseen by the Greeneville Civil Service Board. Collectively, those two departments are known as the town’s classified services.

Subdivision matters for Greeneville and for Greeneville’s Urban Growth Area, which extends beyond the town limits, are administered by the Greeneville Regional Planning Commission. Planning commission members are appointed by the board of mayor and aldermen.

ELECTIONS: The city is divided into two wards, with two aldermen being elected from each ward. The mayor is elected by voters in both wards.

The 1st Ward is the area north of Church Street, and the 2nd Ward is the area south of Church Street.

The two 1st Ward aldermen are elected to two-year terms in odd-numbered years, and the two 2nd Ward aldermen and the mayor are elected to two-year terms in even-numbered years. Elections are in August.

MEETINGS: The Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

BAILEYTON

LEADERSHIP: Baileyton has a mayor, a vice mayor and three aldermen, who each serve a four-year term. The town also has an appointed planning commission.

ELECTIONS: Coordinated with Greene County general elections, Baileyton municipal elections are held on the first Thursday in August of each evennumbered year.

In even-numbered years when the mayor, the vice mayor, and one alderman are not up for election, the town’s other two aldermen are elected.

MEETINGS: Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month.

MOSHEIM

LEADERSHIP: The town has a mayor and four aldermen. Mosheim also has an appointed planning commission.

ELECTIONS: A mayor and four aldermen are elected in August of evennumbered years and serve four-year terms.

MEETINGS: Board meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of each month.

TUSCULUM

LEADERSHIP: The city is led by a three-member commission, which includes the mayor. Tusculum also has an appointed planning commission.

ELECTIONS: Tusculum elects three commissioners, each to a four-year term. Elections take place in November even-numbered years, whenever a commissioner’s term expires.

MEETINGS: The Tusculum Board of Mayor and Commissioners meets the third Monday of each month.

WALKING FROM PAGE 21

THE ANDREW JOHNSON

NATIONAL CEMETERY, with entrances on both Monument Avenue and Crescent Street, was originally known as Signal Hill.

Andrew Johnson himself selected the hill, which belonged to him at the time, as his final resting place. Johnson’s wife, his mother, his mother-in-law, and all of his children are buried there.

The rest of the cemetery is used for the burial of honorably discharged military personnel and their spouses. Many Civil War veterans are buried there.

Open to the public is the OLD GREENE COUNTY GAOL, located behind the Greene County Courthouse.

The one-story limestone-rock jail was originally erected in 1804-05 in what is now the middle of Depot Street. The dungeon-like gaol was torn down and moved to its present site in 1838, and in 1882, a red brick second story was added.

Other historic homes in the downtown district include: the Wheat Williams House (early 1800s), corner of McKee and Irish streets; the McKee House and Law Office (1860s), opposite the Wheat Williams House on the corner of McKee and Irish streets; the Dr. J.E. Alexander Home (postCivil War), West Irish Street; “Boxwood Manor,” the Joseph R. Brown-Milligan House (1850s), South Main Street; and the James G. Reaves House (Walnut Lawn Farm”) (1855), also on South Main Street.