Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby named Tennessee county officer of the year

KNOXVILLE — Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby was named the 2025 recipient of the Robert M. Wormsley Outstanding County Official of the Year Award.The honor is presented annually by the Tennessee County Services Association and was presented during the Fall Conference and Trade Show last Thursday.Engraved on the award is written "In recognition of your support, dedication, and effectiveness in the affairs that benefit county government and its citizens."Woodby was recognized for the many initiatives and accomplishments she has had since becoming mayor in 2020 and for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery from Helene.Those accomplishments include her role in the founding of the Northeast Tennessee Regional Recovery Center. David Connor, executive director of the Tennessee County Services Association, said she helped not just Carter County but the entire region by developing a residential treatment program to help deal with the opioid crisis. The program made use of a closed work camp that had been operated by the Tennessee Department of Corrections.Woodby joined with a regional group of county mayors, judges and district attorneys to negotiate for the transfer of the facility. Woodby was able to sign a lease in October 2022 on behalf of the board and begin the process of converting the former work camp into a residential treatment facility for individuals in the region's recovery courts.Connor said another example of how she repurposed vacant property. That was with the Carter County Higher Education Campus scheduled to open in August 2026.This campus will house the Carter County campuses of Northeast State Community College, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Elizabethton and the Middle College program of the Carter County School System. This new facility will provide Carter County residents with educational opportunities that they would have had to travel to other areas to access.Connor said "if you talk to Mayor Woodby about her time in office, you can tell how motivated she is by these visionary projects. But she will admit that all of these plans and ideas had to be set aside when her community faced a totally unexpected challenge. In September of 2024, her resilience as a mayor was tested most when the remnants of Hurricane Helene struck Carter County." The county had to recover from $330 million in damage to both public and private property."Amid the catastrophe, Mayor Woodby exemplified leadership through service and decisiveness. She rode through the rough terrains of Carter County just after the flooding struck in Black Hawk helicopters to examine the damage and check on residents and assist the National Guard with its recovery efforts. She worked with the Carter County Commission to pass emergency funding."The award recognizes someone whose dedication as a public servant exemplifies whose dedication as a public servant qualities of a leader exemplified by former TCSA Director Bob Wormsley.