This page collects official Town records, Hamilton County election records, published writing, and independent reporting related to my Council service and public positions. When a source documents a Council-wide action rather than an individual vote, it is labeled that way.
When a public source specifically names or quotes me, a Direct verification box shows the relevant record or a short excerpt, with a link to the full source.
Sources reviewed and updated September 16, 2026.
The descriptions below distinguish between documented votes or statements, Council-wide actions, and current stated policy positions. Direct-verification excerpts are intentionally brief so the full context remains available in the linked source.
I was elected to the Signal Mountain Town Council in the November 5, 2024 municipal election. Hamilton County's signed certified results list J. Miles Jorgensen with 3,034 votes. Hamilton County and MTAS also list me as a current Signal Mountain councilmember.
Certified result: “J. Miles Jorgensen — 3,034” in Hamilton County’s signed official results.
Open signed results ↗At the September 2026 candidate forum, I discussed continuing the Town's recent budget-efficiency work and maintaining financial transparency. The same forum also recorded my view that decisions about charitable giving should remain with individual residents rather than Town government. The official September 8, 2025 minutes separately document my second of the ClearGov contract motion.
Candidate forum: “The government doesn’t need to be donating on your behalf.”
Read forum coverage ↗I have publicly supported clearer access to Town financial information. The official September 8, 2025 Town Council minutes document that I seconded the motion to approve Resolution 2025-49 authorizing a three-year ClearGov budgeting-software contract, and that the Council approved it unanimously.
Public statement: “the more transparent we are with our finances, the better it is for everybody.”
Official minutes: Councilmember Jorgensen seconded R2025-49; it passed unanimously.
I served on the Council when the 2025 Strategic Action Plan was presented; its first goal included a communications plan with citizen input. The September 8, 2025 Council minutes also specifically record me calling for better communication among Town boards to improve project coordination and community outreach.
Official minutes: I “emphasized the need for improved communication between boards” while reporting on behalf of the Tree Board.
Open Sept. 8, 2025 minutes ↗During my term, the Council moved forward with improvements to Town facilities, including pool-restroom work. Contemporary reporting describes the Council consensus and project progress. This item is presented as a Council-wide action; the linked reporting does not attribute the decision specifically to me.
During my term, the Town created the Community Development Director role. The September 8, 2025 minutes show I was present when Resolution 2025-50, revising the organization chart and approving new job descriptions, passed unanimously. Independent reporting later identifies the Community Development Director as a newly created position and describes its communications, engagement, economic-development, branding, and community-program responsibilities.
Official record: The Sept. 8 minutes list me present; R2025-50 revised the organization chart and approved new job descriptions, with all members in favor.
Open official minutes ↗I participated in the May 22, 2025 special called meeting on the MACC, when Council reached consensus that a transition to new management should occur before the existing agreement ended. In January 2026, after the Town assumed operational duties, I made the motion to approve first reading of the ordinance establishing Town authority over MACC use fees.
Jan. 15, 2026 minutes: “Councilmember Jorgensen made a motion to approve the Ordinance.” The MACC fee ordinance passed first reading.
Open official minutes ↗The sidewalk project predates my Council service. In December 2024, I made the motion to approve $5,100 in engineering work for a reduced grant scope. By March 2026, Council was formally considering options that included additional funding or discontinuing the project. My current public record states that, after reviewing the cost, delays, grant requirements, and obligations, I supported withdrawing from the TDOT grant approach and evaluating targeted Town-funded work instead.
Dec. 2, 2024 minutes: The official record specifically identifies me as making the motion on engineering drawings for the reduced-scope Old Town sidewalk project; the motion passed.
Open signed minutes ↗During the 2025 Plan Hamilton debate, I publicly identified traffic, fire and police safety, stormwater runoff, and school infrastructure as impacts that should be considered. At the 2026 candidate forum, I again raised emergency evacuation concerns tied to the mountain's limited road access.
2025 coverage: The Chattanoogan attributes to me concerns including “fire and police safety, stormwater runoff into Chattanooga and school infrastructure.”
2026 forum: Coverage also specifically attributes emergency-evacuation concerns to me.
My current development framework is to weigh property rights together with traffic, infrastructure capacity, emergency access, environmental conditions, legal considerations, and neighborhood character. This is a stated governing approach rather than a claim that every development question has the same answer.
My professional background is in environmental compliance, and my graduate research was in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. In Council-related public records, I have raised stormwater impacts during the Plan Hamilton debate, reported on behalf of the Tree Board, supported board continuity, and seconded first reading of the Town's 2026 air-pollution-control fee ordinance.
Public record: Plan Hamilton coverage directly attributes stormwater concerns to me. Sept. 2025 minutes also identify me reporting for the Tree Board; Jan. 2026 minutes record my second of the air-pollution-control ordinance on first reading.
In September 2026, I published an op-ed on automated license-plate readers. I wrote that these systems can have legitimate law-enforcement value while also creating significant privacy and data-governance concerns, and argued that public safety and privacy should not be treated as opposing values.
From my published op-ed: “Public safety matters. So does privacy. We should insist on both.”
Read republished text & original link ↗My stated approach to Council decisions is to gather available information, ask questions, listen to residents, identify costs and risks, and consider long-term consequences rather than beginning with a predetermined answer. My academic record provides an independent source for the scientific-research background referenced in my biography.
UTC Scholar: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga repository lists my 2014 Master of Science thesis in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences.
Open UTC thesis record ↗My stated approach is to work respectfully across differences, seek to understand residents' concerns, and keep Town Council focused on local services, infrastructure, finances, public safety, and long-term planning. The September 2025 minutes provide a concrete example of my emphasis on coordination among Town boards and community outreach.
Official minutes: While reporting for the Tree Board, I was recorded as emphasizing better board-to-board communication for coordination and community outreach.
Open official minutes ↗At the March 23, 2026 work session, Council adopted updated building, plumbing, mechanical, fuel-gas, electrical, swimming-pool/spa, and property-maintenance codes on second reading. The official minutes show that I made the motions on the mechanical, fuel-gas, electrical, pool/spa, and property-maintenance ordinances and seconded the building and plumbing ordinances. Each passed.
Official minutes: The March 23 record identifies me by name on motions or seconds for all seven code updates.
Open March 23, 2026 minutes ↗Review my current priorities for finances, transparency, infrastructure, growth, and collaborative local government.