KATHLEEN RAMSAY HAS served as Middlebury’s town manager during several watershed events.  She’s moving on after a 12-year stint as the shire town’s top administrator and is drawing kudos for her service.
Independent photo/Steve James

MIDDLEBURY — One of Middlebury Town Manager Kathleen Ramsay’s biggest attributes, recalled former selectboard Chair John Tenny, was being able to “manage the storm, without being caught in the center of it.”

Ramsay will truly put that aphorism to the test during the next chapter of her professional life, as she takes on a new role with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) that will literally put her at the center of future storms, helping communities recover from floods and other natural disasters.

But right now, Ramsay is taking a much-deserved bow for the combined total of 20 years she’s spent putting municipal policy into action for the town of Middlebury. Ramsay will step down on Sept. 6. The selectboard has begun recruiting her replacement in hopes of having a successor on board sometime between Oct. 10 and Nov. 10.

Ramsay likely won’t be on board to help the new town manager learn the ropes, but she’s put in place a capable, seasoned corps of municipal officials who’ll provide stability during the transition. They include Assistant Manager David Sophrin; Police Chief Jason Covey, Bill Kernan, director of public works operations; Emmalee Cherington, director of public works planning; and Jennifer Murray, director of planning & zoning.

“One thing I’m particularly proud of is the hires that have made a difference for the town,” she said.

Those workers will carry on a legacy that Ramsay leaves following 36 years in municipal government that has included town manager positions in Pittsford, Killington and Middlebury.

Her first tour with the shire town came as assistant town manager, from 2000-2007.

“I was impressed with her well organized management and cheerful good spirit,” said Tenny, who was on the selectboard at the time. “She helped a great deal in the work of the Selectboard and committees to keep us well prepared.”

Ramsay liked the assistant job in Middlebury, but wanted to boost her career trajectory. So in 2007, she became top administrator for Pittsford, then it was on to Killington.

 When then-Middlebury Town Manager Bill Finger announced his plan to retire in 2012, Tenny and his colleagues saw an opening for Ramsay to return.

“We weren’t going to miss our chance and met with her privately to discuss the possibility of a return to Middlebury,” Tenny said. “The meeting went well, I made a strong hiring recommendation to the selectboard, and the appointment was approved.”

Ramsay’s second tour began in 2011, as assistant manager, with the proviso that she ascend to the top spot upon Finger’s departure in 2012.

Tenny has never regretted the Ramsay redux.

“As I have watched the work of the town over the past dozen years, I have been pleased with the smooth management of town government. Kathleen Ramsay has served Middlebury well,” he said.

It’s been a great match, Ramsay agreed, though it got off to a shaky start.

She recalled applying — twice — for Middlebury’s assistant manager job before finally making the grade in 2000 with then-Town Manager Betty Wheeler. Ramsay at the time had been serving as Hinesburg’s town administrator.

“In true Betty Wheeler fashion, she interviewed me and said, ‘Well, since I don’t have any other options, I guess I’m going to have to hire you,’” she chuckled, recalling her notoriously irascible predecessor.

Wheeler would soon give way to Finger, with whom Ramsay enjoyed a good working relationship.

“He was a great mentor and friend,” she recalled. “We were a good team. He had great skills as a leader, and I had good skills in budgeting and the administrative/personnel work.”

Ramsay has enjoyed her coworkers immensely, and she continues to work with a couple of folks from her first tour. They include Beth Dow, now her administrative assistant.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to have worked beside Kathleen for the past 12 years, and while I am very happy for Kathleen and her wonderful new career opportunity, her leaving is a huge loss for the people of Middlebury, and I will miss her a great deal,” Dow said.

Longtime former Middlebury Town Planner Fred Dunnington, who now serves on the selectboard, also praised Ramsay’s tenure.

“Of the five town managers I have worked with, Kathleen is the best,” he said. “Her dedication to our community and accomplishments in major projects and financing will be significant in Middlebury town government history. In her profession in Vermont and to Middlebury’s great benefit, Kathleen has substantially advanced the institution of town managership. Her initiatives for operating principles and transparency of the selectboard and its major infrastructure committee proceedings are a model for community engagement and effective governance.”

Former town police Chief Tom Hanley retired last fall after 32 years leading the force. His tenure overlapped almost all of Ramsay’s service to Middlebury.

“Her positive attitude, openness, and enduring advocacy for the town were her greatest attributes in guiding us through the many challenges we faced (during her tenure)” Hanley said, citing construction of a new police headquarters, new town offices and a major downtown rail tunnel project, among other things.

 “Kathleen was the quintessential ‘quiet professional,’ steering and guiding the town through its triumphs and challenges during her tenure,” he said. “As the police chief through all but the last few months of her time here, I always appreciated her candor, support, humor, confidence and guidance. As a longtime Middlebury resident, I offer her my thanks and appreciation for her service.”

Along with the aforementioned projects, Ramsay helped shepherd the town through the COVID pandemic, and for several weeks was one of the few town officials staffing the municipal offices.

Some projects have come full circle during Ramsay’s tenure. For example, one of her first duties in 2000 was organizing a grand opening celebration of Middlebury’s then-new wastewater treatment plant. She leaves at a time when the plant needs major updates.

Middlebury has made it through plenty of big changes during the past decade. And while Ramsay was a constant, she declines to take credit for the results.

“All the things that happened were thanks to the leadership and energy of our elected officials, who chose these paths,” Ramsay said. “Once those initiatives are relayed to me, I can chart out a path forward to successfully implement the projects.”

That said, Ramsay does take ownership of some programs that, while not rising to the level of a multi-million-dollar project, have nonetheless made municipal government more responsive to its constituents.

Among those programs:

• Weekly email blasts to around 1,700 recipients notifying them of various public meetings and events of interest.

“I brought (that idea) back from Killington,” she said of the newsletter. “Through that, I feel like I have at least 1,700 friends. All of those people feel free to share their feedback with me.”

• The sidewalk project linking Seymour and Weybridge Streets, which includes a walkway next to the Pulp Mill covered bridge. Planning for the projects began more than a decade ago, with delays caused by the pandemic.

• The temporary placement of Gravity — an artistic rendering of an elephant — outside the town office building. It was a collaboration with Bill Brooks, then-director of the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History.

• Researching and facilitating the “owl” telecommunications technology that helps people attend Middlebury public meetings via MCTV.

Remote access to meetings has been a game changer for municipal government, Ramsay believes. In the “old” days, Ramsay’s duties included driving hard copies of meeting materials to selectboard members’ homes. Now they — and constituents — can electronically access those materials and participate virtually.

“It’s a good thing, and another avenue for people to participate,” she said.

Brian Carpenter is current chair of the Middlebury selectboard. He said a farewell gathering is being planned for Ramsay on Sept. 5 at Town Hall Theater, tentatively from 5-7 p.m.

“Kathleen has been wonderful to work with. She’s competent, focused on service and the betterment of Middlebury and is a very hard worker. She understands our governance well, is a budgeting genius and her book of work speaks for itself,” Carpenter said. “When you look at all the projects we have accomplished in Middlebury over the time she was our manager and consider the minimal impact that has had on the tax rate, you appreciate her capacity all the more. Likewise, I would say she has done marvelous at attracting and empowering a strong staff as well as changed our organizational structure which will help sustain the good work she has done.”

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].