Town bids a fond farewell to Planning Commission member David Gushee

May 2 was declared “David Gushee Day” by the Front Royal town government. In a preface from Clerk of Council Jennifer Berry to a release issued the following day it was noted that “A celebration in Mr. Gushee’s honor was held yesterday evening at Town Hall to thank him for his years of dedicated service. Dave Gushee is truly a gem and will be greatly missed by the entire staff, council and citizenry of the Town of Front Royal.”

Town Planning Director Jeremy Camp added to the laurels cast affectionately Gushee’s way: “Mr. Gushee served on the Planning Commission for 11 years with great integrity and honor. He was chairman for 5 of those years, and provided leadership that broadened public participation and innovative thinking. The Town extends its appreciation for his years of dignified service.”

Mayor Hollis Tharpe and the Town Council formally acknowledged Gushee’s service to the community in a proclamation:

“The Mayor & Town Council awards this certificate in recognition of the many years of dedicated work of Mr. David E. Gushee and declares that May 2nd, 2018, be named HONORARY DAVID E. GUSHEE DAY for the Front Royal area!

“On behalf of the Town Council of the Town of Front Royal, we express our best wishes on your journey, we thank you for your giving spirit to Front Royal, and we wish you health and happiness, signed this 2nd day of May, 2018.”

Gushee is leaving the area for Atlanta to be closer to family.

Gushee came to town service following a distinguished career in chemical engineering and consultation and research at the federal level. In a biographical appendix (dated 2010) attached to the Town announcement of “David Gushee Day” that service was summarized:

“Dave retired from Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress, in 1993. He was Senior Specialist in Environmental Policy at CRS from 1987 to 1993. He was Senior Specialist and Chief of the Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division from 1978 to 1987. Earlier, Dave was head of the Environmental Protection Section (1972-4) and Energy Section (1975-8). CRS provides objective information and analysis to Members of Congress and their staffs ‘without partisan bias,’ as instructed by its enabling legislation, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1972.

“He continues his relationship with Congressional Research Service as an unpaid consultant and writes occasional articles on energy and environmental policy for publication in technical and trade journals. He also consults for other government agencies and private clients.”
Gushee’s background to his service in D.C. began with a degree in chemical engineering from MIT in 1950. Following graduation he was a chemical engineer in process and product development and technical assistance to manufacturing and sales for DuPont from 1950 to 1956, minus a two-year (1951-52) stint in the Army as a forward observer during the Korean War.

He then gravitated to the reporting side of his field, joining the staff of the “American Chemical Society” (ACS) as a technical editor for Chemical and Engineering News in 1956, with tours a field editor in San Francisco (1957-59), London (1960-61), and Frankfurt, W. Germany (1961-62).

In 1963 he became editor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry overseeing publication of most “American Chemical Society” journals through 1967. He left ACS in 1972 to join the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress for a final career of 21 years till his retirement.

Some of Gushee’s spare time in retirement was based on a lifelong love of baseball, which he played in high school and college, and then somehow found time to coach at the Little League and Babe Ruth levels in the 1970’s and 1980’s in Northern Virginia.

In the 1990’s and into the 21st Century the energetic Gushee moved from coaching to league management. “He was a league official in Vienna, Va., for some 10 years, was District VII Commissioner (northern Fairfax County) from 1990 to 2003 and has been Secretary/Treasurer of Babe Ruth Leagues of Virginia since 2004,” his biographical notes indicated in 2010.

My guess is Dave Gushee was severely under-compensated for his work with the Town of Front Royal – OH WAIT, planning commission membership is essentially a volunteer service to your community.

And who is going to replace this guy?!!?