Board of Commissioners

Chattanooga Housing Authority Board of Commissioners

Jim Levine

Jim Levine serves as Chairman of CHA’s Board of Commissioners. Jim H. Levine, a shareholder in the Chattanooga Office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, practices in the areas of commercial lending, mergers and acquisitions, business organizations and commercial contracts. He has extensive experience in the representation of borrowers and lenders in Fannie Mae and HUD-insured loan transactions for multifamily and senior housing facilities, having been in counsel in more than 200 HUD loans in the senior housing industry totaling approximately $1 billion. Mr. Levine represents many closely-held entities in issues related to formation, dissolution, agreements among owners, equity transfer and minority oppression, with extensive experience in issues related to limited liability companies. Mr. Levine is counsel to buyers and sellers in purchase and sales transactions, including asset sales, asset purchases, stock sales, stock purchase and statutory mergers and real estate transactions, and has extensive experience in the preparation and negotiation of commercial finance and corporate legal opinions. Mr. Levine also has extensive experience in preparing and negotiating contracts for procurement of technology goods and services.

Edna Varner

Edna Varner serves as Vice Chairperson for CHA's Board of Commissioners. Edna Varner is a retired Hamilton County educator, currently working at the Public Education Foundation where she coaches new principals and teachers. Her family lived in Spencer McCallie Homes in Alton Park for five years before they were able to buy a home. Edna attended and taught in the local public schools, eventually becoming assistant principal of Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, principal of Chattanooga Middle School, and principal of Howard High School. After retirement, she was the Director of Leadership Development for the Philadelphia based Cornerstone Literacy Initiative for twelve years. A public education advocate, she has spoken at conferences across the United States, and in 2007 and 2009, she represented PEF, speaking to the U.S. Senate Education committee on changes to No Child Left Behind. Edna serves on a number of local non-profit boards including Chattanooga State Foundation, Siskin Children's Institute, and United Way where she was the 2017 annual campaign chair. A lifelong learner, she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from UTC and received a doctorate in Educational Leadership at Carson-Newman University in May, 2018.

Carl Henderson

Carl Henderson joined HHM CPAs in 1981 and was admitted to partnership one year later. As a past managing partner for HHM, he has a wealth of experience in multiple services and industries. He currently specializes in estate/gift planning for individuals and succession planning for his corporate clients. As a former Revenue Agent for the IRS, Carl stays on top of tax law changes and brings thorough expertise to estate/gift planning. He helps his clients see their true assets and determine what their main objectives are, using his current knowledge and ability to communicate to clearly and concisely help clients understand how they can maximize their goals while minimizing their tax risks. Once he has helped a client to create a plan, Carl is readily available to help them update it as needed.

His work in succession planning provides a similar service to business clients who need to know that the future of their companies are in good hands. He helps them to grasp which qualities best define their potential leaders and how to create a pipeline that pushes top talent into leadership roles. Carl has helped numerous companies to solidify their internal promotion process through effective succession planning and has become a trusted adviser to his clients. In addition to his duties as a CPA, Carl often serves as an expert witness before the U.S. Tax Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court, drawing on his past career and current expertise

Eddie F. Holmes

Eddie F. Holmes retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority after contributing more than 33 years of service. He also served as past president of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and is currently Vice President for the Tennessee State Conference of NAACP Branches. He successfully established two programs during his tenure with the local NAACP Branch – the Back-To-School/Stay-In-School Programs for Hamilton County Schools and the Academic, Cultural, Technology, and Scientific Olympic Program. ACT-SO is a yearlong enrichment program designed to reward students who excel in academics and the arts. Chairman Holmes has received numerous honors and awards including the Medgar Evers Leadership Award. He and his wife, Fannie, attend New United Church and have one daughter.

Adam Kinsey

Adam Kinsey is a real estate developer and entrepreneur, focusing on urban, mixed-used and entertainment projects.

Since joining Kinsey Probasco Hays in 2001, he has been involved in over $350 million of development projects. These projects have helped transform the cities which they are in by putting an emphasis on living, working and playing in downtown settings.

In 2011, Kinsey opened Chattanooga’s largest privately-owned music venue, Track 29, at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. The venue, which held up to 1,700 people, immediately made an impact, appearing twice in Rolling Stone in just six months and catapulting to the 70th largest club in the world by volume of ticket sales. The venue was a catalyst for a development surge of the Southside and proved to the concert industry that Chattanooga could be a successful tour stop.

Kinsey now serves as President of the Chattanooga Choo Choo and has overseen a transformative redevelopment of the historic property. The 24-acre site now houses several restaurants and bars, two music venues, a comedy club, a museum featuring the world’s largest guitar collection, nearly 500 residential units housing over 700 residents, updated hotel rooms and much more. The area is an entertainment hub with the addition of an urban street, Station Street, that puts pedestrians first and is designed to be easily closed for street parties and other events. Kinsey worked with neighboring businesses, property owners and local and state legislators to have Station Street designated as an open-container area, only the third in the entire state of Tennessee.

Jeffery McClendon

Jeffery McClendon serves as the CHA Board's Resident Commissioner. He resides at Mary Walker Towers, one of CHA's senior housing communities. He has served as President of the Resident Council Association for over three years and he has been an active member of the CHA's Resident Advisory Board for over five years. Before retiring, Commissioner McClendon was employed by Alexian Brothers, an organization that offers health care to our community's elderly and frail. He is also a proud veteran of the United States Army, having dutifully served and defended our great nation.