Will switch positions with Ward starting Monday
When the Henderson City Commission convenes for its next meeting in the middle of March, a different fellow will be sitting in the city manager’s chair.
Dylan Ward will take over in the spot, spelling Buzzy Newman who has been the city manager since 2018.
It’s—sort of—an end of the Newman era at the city, at least in its top managerial job tasked with running the day-to-day operations. Newman will stay on, swapping spots with Ward, a move that was announced at the time of Ward’s hiring to be city manager in December.
On Tuesday, the city commission approved both Ward’s and Newman’s new contracts. Ward will be paid $149,900 per year. Newman will get $118,000.
Newman’s ties to the city run deep. As most know, he is the son of Bill Newman, Henderson’s longest-serving mayor with six consecutive terms, starting in 1970 and ending in 1993.
Buzzy Newman has spent a great deal of his career with the city as well. Before he became city manager, he worked as the assistant city manager for about nine years. He also had a one-year stint as the director of field operations at the Henderson Water Utility directly before being named city manager.
Additionally, Newman worked 18 years earlier in his career as the facilities management director at Methodist Hospital.
Though he’s not leaving the city, Newman still teared up in a short ceremony Tuesday at the city commission meeting in which Mayor Brad Staton presented him with his nameplate. Newman thanked his colleagues, elected officials, community members that he’s partnered with and his wife, Sindy.
“It’s been a great run,” he said.
Ward’s first official day as city manager is Monday. He began working for the city 11 years ago, which—aside from internships—has been his only place of employment since graduating from Western Kentucky University with a B.S. in civil engineering. He also later earned a master’s in public administration from WKU and is a licensed professional engineer in Kentucky.
