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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Cale Smith at a Homewood City Council meeting on Jan. 26, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Residents at a specially called Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Paul Simmons II at a specially called Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Nick Sims at a specially called Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Chris Lane at a specially called Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
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Submitted graphic
A graphic provided by Chris Lane at a specially called Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026.
Cale Smith ended his workday Monday as the acting city manager of Homewood. On Tuesday, he arrives as the person tabbed for the permanent position after the city council voted to offer him the job.
“I’m honored by the city council‘s decision and appreciate the time and care they took in making it,” Smith told the Homewood Star when contacted after the specially called meeting. “I truly love working for the city and serving alongside the people who make it run every day. I’m grateful for the trust they’ve placed in me and look forward to continuing the work ahead.”
The council voted 4-1 to amend a prepared resolution, filling Smith’s name into a blank in the resolution with a salary of $208,000. Chris Lane voted no, he said later, as a statement of support for his choice – Eric Brackins, the assistant city manager for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Lane ultimately aligned with his fellow council members in a unanimous 5-0 vote to approve the resolution as amended.
In making the motions, Nick Sims said the key factor for him was who would be the best fit for the role.
“I really support Cale Smith as our first city manager,” Sims said, noting the exhaustive work that’s been done in paring the applicants from 61 to a final five. “After all that evaluation, I find that he has the experience working in local government as a senior engineer at a private firm working with local government, and he also has worked in our city as a city engineer, a department head and now is acting city manager, showing not only talents potentially in the permanent role but also his expertise that he brings with him, most notably in land use and stormwater management.”
While acknowledging Smith’s skills as a communicator, Lane said the former city engineer was the choice of the other council members because they were familiar with Smith.
“He's a Homewoodian,” Lane said. “He is part of Homewood. My whole thing was, is he the most qualified?”
Lane recalled former Mayor Alex Wyatt having said the first permanent city manager would have at least five years of experience and a master’s degree. The Ward 3 councilman distributed a chart that showed three finalists as being qualified and two – including Smith – as unqualified.
Lane cited Wyatt as saying Homewood would have the best qualified person in the Southeast. “Did we do our job?” Lane asked. “I don’t think so.”
Mayor Jennifer Andress said she and the other council members weren’t content with Smith simply because they are familiar with him.
“The difference is that Cale has already done it,” she said. “Cale has been here, he's doing it [and] he's already done it. We're really in great hands with him.”
In offering the second to Sims’ motion, Paul Simmons II said, “We don’t need a reset here.
“Cale has a deep, first-hand knowledge of Homewood's infrastructure. I think that's extremely important. Zoning constraints, I think that's also important as well. He's already engaged in capital improvements. I'd also like to add that he's currently … managing ongoing projects [and] he's already established staff relationships. That's important.”
Just prior to the vote, Andress said she has received a commitment from Sam Gaston to remain a year beyond his original commitment as special assistant to the city manager.
Monday’s action offers the job to Smith at the stated salary. Additional terms of the hire will be determined in the pre-council and council meetings on Feb. 23.
Homewood residents passed a referendum on Sept. 24, 2025, to change the city’s government from mayor-council to council-manager. Following that action, Glen Adams was hired as interim city manager to aid the city in its transition.
Adams’ term ended when the newly elected mayor and council took office. Andress tabbed Smith, the city engineer, to serve as acting city manager during the hiring process and Smith opted to apply for the permanent job.
