By Wayne Gates
Georgetown has a new village administrator.
Tyler Thompson will begin working for the village on June 3. He is currently working in the city administration of Largo, Florida, a city of nearly 90,000 people near Tampa Bay.
Georgetown Mayor Dale Cahall said that finding Thompson was a long process.
“Twenty eight candidates applied for the job and we narrowed it down to four that we interviewed. We wanted someone with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration plus work experience. Tyler Thompson has that credential and has six years experience working in city administration.”
He said that Thompson will have plenty to do when he starts work on June 3.
“We have a lot of projects going on. We have some road paving projects, our bicentennial is coming up soon as well as some minor annexation issues to sort through. Plus, he will have to get to know the employees and get the lay of the land.”
Thompson said he is looking forward to returning to the midwest.
“I am a native Ohioan. I grew up in the village of Ottawa Hills, which is a suburb of Toledo. My dad is the village administrator there, so I kind of grew up in this business. I was lucky to have learned a lot as a result of that.”
He said it was a natural fit to go into the “family business.”
“I decided that it would be a good job to have to be able to help people and make improvements throughout the community,” Thompson said.
“I have been working in Largo, Florida for about six years in the city manager’s office. I work on budgets and capital planning, performance measurement, program improvement and things like that.”
He added that many of the issues he works with in a city of 90,000 people are similar to those in Georgetown.
“It’s really just a matter of scale. A lot of the things I expect to encounter in Georgetown are similar to issues we have here. We have annexation issues, we are trying to attract new businesses. It’s just a matter of dealing with a couple of extra decimal points on the budgets,” Thompson said.
“I think I’m fortunate to be able to do a job that I enjoy and am very passionate about so personally and professionally, I’m happy to see that Georgetown has a lot to offer.”
When asked what caught his eye during his visit, Thompson said “I was really impressed with Merchant’s Row on the square and all of the historic homes that were in the area.”
Thompson is single and has a dog named George. He said that one of the first things he planned to do was make the rounds in the community.
“I plan to meet all of the employees and as many of the residents as quickly as I can,” he said.
