Newberry hunts for new manager

NEWBERRY – With City Manager Keith Ashby planning to retire in the upcoming months, the City of Newberry is turning its attention to finding a replacement.

The city has contacted the International City/County Management Association for help through their Range Rider program, said Mayor Bill Conrad.

Established in 1974, the Range Rider program assigns retired city managers as volunteers to provide counsel and advice. Newberry’s Range Rider, Dick Kelton, from Sanford, Fla, works as a volunteer with the League of Cities.

The city met with Kelton this week to plan a process to search for Ashby’s replacement.

Newberry will give Kelton salary expectations and criteria for education and experience, along with its goals for economic development and strengthening the sports tourism in the town.  

Ashby hasn’t received a pay raise since he came on board with the city, Conrad said.

“We’re aware of the fact that we’ll probably have to adjust our pay upwards,” he said.

Kelton will provide Newberry with salary ranges based on cities of a similar size and economy, relative to the experience and education of the city manager candidate. From there, they will refine the search criteria.  

He will then screen hundreds of applicants, bringing the list down to about 12 to 15, Conrad said. The City Commission will look at those and come up with the short list of about three to five candidates, followed by public hearings for each of the applicants.

Conrad said he hopes the process can be finished within the next three months, though it could take up to six. Ashby announced he plans to retire in three to six months in early January, but Conrad said he might stay on longer if the transition called for it.

“He’s really interested in making sure it’s a smooth transition,” Conrad said.

Ashby announced his impending retirement at a City Commission meeting, citing his age as a primary reason for wanting to leave. The 70-year-old has been the city manager for 10 years. Richard Blalock, recreation director, and Lowell Garrett, city planner, whom Ashby described as his right and left arms, respectively, also left the city recently.

He has had heart issues in the past year that resulted in two operations, and the stressful environment of running a city prompted Ashby to want to leave to spend more time with his wife and five children, Ashby said in an earlier interview.

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