Last September, the town of Bryson City hired Highlands’ town planner Josh Ward to serve as it’s new town manager, but as of Jan. 3, Ward is returning to Highlands to replace retiring Town Manager Bob Frye.

Nestled betwixt the Great Balsam and Plott Balsam ranges not far from Western Carolina University in Jackson County, the town of Sylva is in the midst of a transformation.

Waynesville’s new town manager won’t take the helm until Aug. 22, but The Smoky Mountain News was recently able to speak at length with Rob Hites, 64, to learn more about who he is, where he’s been, and what he hopes to accomplish in Waynesville.

When hiring a new employee in any profession, the focus is first and foremost on professional qualifications, as it obviously should be. 

After almost three years with the town of Waynesville, Amie Owens is out as administrative services director.

The Waynesville town board met Tuesday for a third stab at narrowing down their pool of applicants for the town manager position.

Town manager hopefuls wanting to run one of Western North Carolina’s largest, most progressive towns will need more than budget know-how and political savvy — they’ll need stage presence, improv skills and nerves of steel to make it past the final round.

The new interim town manager of Waynesville has pledged to sustain the town’s momentum and not let it idle or backslide during the months-long transition to come.

Waynesville leaders made a pact last week to work cooperatively in choosing a new town manager, despite the rift among board members leading up to this point.

Former county commissioner, mayor and longtime Haywood County political player/observer Mary Ann Enloe was dead on in her column last week about the firing of Waynesville Town Manager Marcy Onieal (www.themountaineer.village-soup.com/p/marcy-onieal-is-a-classy-lady-who-will-be-fine-so-will-the-town): it was a bad decision by aldermen, but Waynesville and Onieal will survive this small-town political firestorm. Both have too much going for them.