A year ago, the Lawrence City Commission looked at the city’s department directors and noticed something: a bunch of graying, even balding, heads.

It was a concern, Commissioner Mike Rundle said, “because of the sheer number of people coming up for retirement at the same time. For continuity and good service you don’t want to be caught short with turnovers in multiple departments.”

Since then, three department heads have left the city: Lynn Goodell with Housing and Neighborhood Development, George Williams with Public Works and Ray Hummert, the city clerk.

Looking for quality

Goodell and Williams retired; Hummert took a job in another city.

“We lost three, but only one of them was unanticipated,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said. “The others we had plans (to replace) way ahead of time.”

The replacements:

l Charles Soules replaced Williams. He had been the public works director and city engineer for Emporia since 1994. Soules has more than 14 years of experience in municipal public works as well as experience writing and administering state and federal grants. He has been involved with some notable Emporia projects, including the 1997 brick street renovation and historic preservation of Berkley Street, and water treatment plant improvements that received the 2000 Public Improvement Award from the American Public Works Assn.

l Victor Torres took over for Goodell as head of the newly renamed Neighborhood Resources Department. Torres was an assistant comptroller at Kansas University prior to taking the city job; before that he was director of the community and economic development department in Sunland Park, N.M.

l Frank Reeb replaced Hummert. Reeb had been Johnson County’s employee relations and employee benefits manager, overseeing programs for 40 county departments and agencies and 3,500 employees. Prior to working for Johnson County, Reeb was a staff attorney at the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Looking at the new hires, Rundle said the replacement process has gone “pretty well. Obviously our new people have been here a short time, but it seems to be going smoothly.”

Getting plenty of notice from Goodell and Williams helped, Wildgen said.

“The replacement process wasn’t haphazard,” he said. “We took time to pick quality candidates.”

Staying on the job

Wildgen said he tries to stay ahead of the curve, checking in with his department heads regularly to see what their plans are.

“We talk during their annual evaluations about their plans during the next year,” he said. “That doesn’t mean things can’t change overnight, but that generally doesn’t happen.”

Indeed, some of the city’s top officials have been around for a long time. Parks and Recreation Director Fred DeVictor came to Lawrence in 1970, Fire & Medical Chief Jim McSwain started with the city in 1978 and Police Chief Ron Olin started in 1971. Even Wildgen has been with the city since 1974.

That’s a lot of longevity in a town that’s still small enough to be poached for talent by bigger cities, Wildgen said.

“It’s a great community and they get to participate in that,” Wildgen said. “They feel challenged to get things done.”

It also means many of those employees are nearly able to take early retirement, if they choose. The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System allows early retirement when workers have accumulated 85 points a combination of age and years employed by government. A 55-year-old employee who has worked for the city 30 years, for example, would be eligible.

“There’s a number of department heads who could give notice anytime, but most of them seem to have a lot of energy and are ready to keep going,” Wildgen said. “They enjoy their jobs and like what they’re doing.”

It helps, Wildgen said, that the community has been supportive of projects like construction of the indoor aquatic center in west Lawrence and a new arts center downtown. Those are the kinds of meaty activities city employees like to get their teeth into.

“They really enjoy projects like that,” Wildgen said. “There are a lot of places that don’t have that kind of support.”