Members & Bios

Susan M. Kirk

Chairman, Governmental Affairs Committee

A resident of Tellico Village since 2017, Susan is a retired licensed massage therapist from Florida where she was very active in local government and civic organizations. She served 6 years as a councilman of a coastal city, including a period as vice mayor. She has extensive experience in coalition building and interfacing with government entities to seek solutions. Have served membership on boards dealing with zoning, community redevelopment, regional planning, economic development, and a gubernatorial appointment as a trustee for the local county hospital. Her civic involvement included a directorship of a local Rotary Club being awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship and extensive participation in the chamber of commerce as a lifetime Ambassador. Having participated in the County Leadership program she was chosen Class President.

Susan has continued her commitment to public service since moving to Tellico Village. Wanting to learn more about Loudon County she was in the 2018 Sheriff Citizen’s Academy. In addition to her present position as GAC chairman, she served as vice chairman of the POA Long Range Planning Advisory Committee and served with the Tellico Village Volunteer Fire Department as an Emergency Medical Responder/Firefighter. She volunteers with Friends of TV Library fundraisers and is a member of A Thyme for Herbs Garden

Barbara and I purchased our first lot in Tellico Village in 1987 while serving in the US Air Force.  Several years later we traded in that lot for another, ultimately making our final purchase in Kahite in 1997.  After retiring from the Air Force in 1999, we started building our home and moved in March of 2000.

From 1999 to 2016, I worked for three organizations in Knoxville: Covenant Health, Summit Medical Group and The University of Tennessee Medical Center.  During those years we raised two children and participated in numerous social and charitable organizations.  In recent years I served on the Board of Directors for Chota Community Health Services and a member of the Tellico Village Finance Committee.

Being a Tennessee resident since 1968, I feel I bring a unique perspective to the committees I have the privilege of serving on.  As a Kahite resident, I hope to facilitate positive relationships and improve understanding and knowledge of Monroe County Politics in Tellico Village.

My wife Sue and I moved to Tellico Village from Santa Rosa in Northern California last year. We now live in our recently finished home in the village and are enjoying the wonderful East Tennessee lifestyle in our retirement years. I have always been interested in the links between our political process and that of public interest. I see my role as being to keep our Tellico Village updated on the various political issues that are occurring outside of the village and how they might affect our community.

I served in the British Army as a musician for several years. During that service, I was very lucky to have traveled to many different countries around the world. Upon completion of my military service, I obtained graduate degrees in Statistics and International Economics. After a short experience in teaching, I moved into Law Enforcement for The State of California and was involved in staff administration and Government Liaison, I retired after 26 years. Sue retired from a career as an Event Planner for a Medical Device manufacturer and hospital administration.

We both enjoy the wonderful outdoor and active lifestyle that our beautiful surroundings in Eastern Tennessee provide. We are both golfers and members of the Dragon Boat racing group.

I look forward to serving on the committee to ensure our little bit of paradise that we have here in Tellico Village always stays that way.

Following our respective retirements, Melina and I moved into the Village in November of 2021.  We live, hopefully temporarily, in a cottage in Mialaquo Point and plan to build our son’s home design in Coyatee later in 2022.  During both our Discovery Tour and an exploratory month in 2020, we were struck by the people who preceded us here and with whom we interacted. Everyone we met was welcoming.  The many activities available to us and the evidence of the Village Board’s responsible fiscal management closed the deal.  We look forward to participating in the clubs and activities in which we have an interest. 

Over a span of a forty-year career, I interacted with state, federal and foreign governments on behalf of some of America’s largest and respected manufacturers.  In 1987, I was recruited to Chicago by Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW), where, over time, I had the privilege of visiting many of our over 600 manufacturing facilities and with the men and women who operated them. 

I represented the Company as a direct lobbyist and later as its Vice President for global government affairs, managing its interactions and interface with legislators and regulators in state capitols, in Washington, D.C. and countries where governmental decisions affected ITW’s operations and products.  The Company also named me to its Foundation Board, on which I served for over 20 years.

My responsibilities encompassed not only direct lobbying and managing the above mentioned disparate governmental actions, I also was assigned to serve the Company on its site selection process; managed the Company’s involvement in international trade dispute cases and consulted with and coached managers and engineers on how best to affect the outcomes resulting from their participation in US and international standards bodies.  Outside of the Company, I  was appointed as a Trusted Advisor for manufacturing by the US Secretary of Commerce and US Trade Representative on pending trade agreements; invited by the White House to interview for the position of Dep. Asst. Secretary for Manufacturing; served on a plethora of trade association policy committees; represented the US industrial fastener and anchor bolt producers  as their negotiator to the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue in Brussels; was an active member of the ASTM committee for plastics recycling definitions; represented successive ITW CEOs on federal and international committees; and managed two ITW-sponsored political action committees.

Upon joining ITW, it became immediately apparent that its culture focused not only on operations but on community service.  I volunteered to teach 3^rd graders on the principles of  business via  Junior Achievement and served on the Board of the Chicago-based Institute for Community Empowerment and its scholarship program.  In retirement, I was appointed to my home city’s Planning and Zoning Board on which I learned from my colleagues and served for three years. 

Hence, I came to the Village with a head filled with ‘stuff’ I want to use to serve our new Community. 

Greg and his wife Marie moved to Tellico Village in July 2022 from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia upon completion of their home being built in Kahite.  Greg retired from the U.S. Air Force after 30 years of service.  After Greg’s Air Force career, he joined the Department of Defense Inspector General for eight years.  Finally, Greg moved to work for the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Command Inspector General for another four years before relocating to Tennessee.  Greg’s Inspector General work included participating in, or leading multi-discipline teams of specialists to ensure Department of Defense (DoD) independent oversight of programs including Wounded Warrior Programs, Afghanistan National Security Force Enabling Efforts, U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Component Healthcare, OPERATION UNITED ASSISTANCE DoD Healthcare Response (2014 Africa Ebola Outbreak), DoD Biological Safety and Security,  Foreign Military Forces Counter-Terrorism and Stability Operations Capacity Building, and DoD Military Health System Quality of Care and Patient Safety.  Greg was also an instructor for the Defense Institute for Medical Operations.  Greg completed his Bachelor of Science Degree- in Business Administration and Management, as well as his Master of Science Degree-Management Science.  Greg also completed his U.S. Joint Forces Command, Joint Medical Readiness Fellowship as well as the Office of Personnel Management’s Leadership Education and Development Certificate Program.  Furthermore, Greg is a graduate of both the United Nations Civil-Military Action Office Course and the United Nations Civil-Military Staff Officer Course.

Margaret was Principal Safety Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, and later Manager of Safety Engineering and Manager of Industrial Hygiene.  Margaret led multi-discipline teams of specialists to assure safety and health in explosives, field test, fabrication and construction.  Projects included mining, oil shale retorting, solar energy systems, nuclear and pulsed power reactors. She served as acting Area Director for the U.S. Department of Labor – OSHA in New Orleans and New Mexico.  Employed as a safety engineer at The Boeing Co. in New Orleans on the NASA Apollo Project.

Margaret was elected President of the American Society of Safety Engineers.  She was also elected President of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.

President Clinton appointed her to the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), serving under that administration as well as the Bush administration. NACOSH acts as an advisor to the Secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services.

She is an ASSE Fellow and was awarded the BCSP Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her education includes undergraduate degrees from Louisiana State University and Delgado College as well as graduate degrees from University of New Mexico and Central Missouri State University.  She is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) and a Certified Safety Professional (CSP).

Scott and his wife Adrienne moved to Tellico Village from northern Virginia while their house was being built in Kahite, moving in May 2022. Scott retired from Micron Technology in Manassas, VA as a utility plant control room operator specializing in Ultra-Pure Water (UPW) and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) operations. He was formerly a commercial HVAC/R service technician in the NY/NJ, Austin (Texas), and Washington, DC metro areas and a Compliance/Regulatory Engineer where he provided the information required for approval and compliance with governmental standards as well as customer and industry specific requirements.

Scott chose to join the Government Affairs committee because it is important for Tellico Village to have a presence at and create a positive relationship with municipal, county, and state governments and agencies. His previous experience in working with government at all levels as well as a meticulous attention to detail will aid in accomplishing this goal.