I asked Bill Lyons about it, and here's what he said:

In the new organization the finance director and all the other depts, plus a couple more, report to Larry. He will take a bit more of the big picture approach. His new role gives him more freedom from some of the day to day operations so he can get involved in a lot more than the dollars and cents things.

Bill also provided a link to the City's new org chart:

(link...)

And here's a link to the Gene Patterson interview:

(link...)

Thanks for the visuals R.

I understand what it resolves, but why was this change necessary? Was holding more than one position in the administration to much work, inefficient, causing conflicts, against the city charter or what?

With Mayor Haslam's business experience, I would think he adopts the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. I would say a good start to recognizing an issue would be to organize a chart like the attached. Does Blount have such a chart?

My understanding is that the reorg was related to the Mayor just starting his new second term.

One change was related to the departure of the Mayor's PR person Margie Nichols. Those duties were folded into Lyon's department.

I suspect another change may be related to oversight and separation of duties in the Community Development department. There have been several controversies regarding Empowerment Zone grants, HUD money, etc. They reorganized that department and hired an outstanding person, Madeline Rogero, to replace the previous head who resigned under controversy.

The Mayor may be putting an extra layer of insulation between himself and that department because of past problems, but that's just idle speculation. It certainly would not be any reflection on Madeline Rogero, who is top notch and above board in every way.

I think Bill Lyon's explanation is legit and the most logical. The Mayor now has a number two guy to help oversee things without being directly involved in the day to day operations of what they are overseeing.

The Mayor now has a number two guy to help oversee things without being directly involved in the day to day operations of what they are overseeing.

That makes sense. I would imagine Mr. Martin can take a more critical view of the finances since it won't be his work he's viewing.

Kudos to Mayor Haslam for making changes in a political climate that finds most hunkering down.

It certainly would not be any reflection on Madeline Rogero, who is top notch and above board in every way.

He should also be praised for looking for solutions outside his own party.

SeeJaneRide
R.N. Do you know why Nichols departed, and where she's headed?

She went over to the University of Tennessee as executive assistant to UT President John Petersen.

SeeJaneRide
...an effective PR person, or "executive assistant." Anyone who heckles the refs at Lady Vol games (not kidding, saw/heard this one myself) like he does is setting himself up for some embarrassment, or another. Could you imagine seeing a ref throwing out the UT Prez?