TCSA’s ‘Legacies in Leadership’ Panel: Three County Leaders Reflect on Decades of Service
At this year’s TCSA Legislative Conference, a Thursday morning breakfast session brought together more than a century of combined county government experience in a single room. Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters, Tipton County Executive Jeff Huffman, and Dickson County Mayor Bob Rial each plan to retire when their terms end on August 31, 2026, and TCSA Executive Director David Conner sat down with all three for a candid conversation about what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what they’d want the next generation of county leaders to know.
The panel, titled “Legacies in Leadership,” is featured in a special edition of the Tennessee County Voice podcast. Below are some of the highlights from their conversation.
County Government Has Transformed Into Big Business
When Mayor Waters first took office in Sevier County, his entire staff consisted of a secretary, a payroll clerk, and a bookkeeper — and he personally filled the roles of emergency manager and finance director on top of his own. The numbers tell the story of how dramatically that’s changed.
“In 1978, the total budget for Sevier County was $20 million. That included the school system,” Waters said. “Today, that budget is $420 million,” spread across roughly 30 departments and 450 employees reporting to the mayor’s office.
That growth, the panelists agreed, has reshaped what the job requires. Where county offices once relied on generalists who handled a little of everything, today’s counties need specialists. Executive Huffman pointed to economic development and tourism in Tipton County as examples — functions once handled informally through the local chamber of commerce that are now professional, in-house positions. Dickson County now collects more than $1 million a year in hotel-motel tax alone, money that gets reinvested directly into economic development and community initiatives.
The County Leadership System Demands Collaboration, Not Command
A recurring theme of the panel was the structural reality of the county mayor’s office. Unlike a municipal mayor, a county executive can’t simply push initiatives through.
“The county executive, the county mayor’s office is fundamentally… a weak position,” Huffman explained. “You can’t bullrush through issues. You have to collaborate, and you have to persuade, and you have to convince folks to come along and come your way. And if you can do that, you’ll be successful. If you can’t do that, you run into trouble.”
That need for collaboration has only intensified, the panelists noted, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing frequency of natural disasters across Tennessee as forces that have made working across departments and jurisdictions non-negotiable.
Mayor Waters echoed the sentiment with a practical playbook he’s followed since the 1990s: monthly meetings with city managers, quarterly multi-hour sessions with the county’s water board, and regular meetings with state representatives and the county commission. His philosophy on disagreement has guided that approach for decades.
To listen to the full panel, simply play below or download the episode and subscribe on your preferred podcast channel.
