Waltz’s town manager contract unanimously approved at special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 30

Two days after failing to heed the call of Councilman Skip Rogers to “immediately” expedite a contract offer to former Front Royal Town Manager Joe Waltz to return to that position after a three-year absence to a “dream job” in energy management with a municipal cooperative in Ohio, the Front Royal Town Council revisited that request. And at a 6 p.m. Special Meeting announced shortly after noon, Wednesday, November 30, for that evening for the sole purpose of appointing a town manager, council unanimously confirmed the hire of Waltz to his old job.

Seconds into the meeting, Mayor Chris Holloway called for a motion, to which Vice-Mayor Lori Cockrell responded: “Mr. Mayor, I move that council appoint Joseph E. Waltz as town manager for the Town of Front Royal and authorize the mayor to execute the town manager agreement dated November 30, 2022, on behalf of the town.” That motion was quickly seconded by Councilwoman Letasha Thompson and approved by a 6-0 roll-call vote. – Well, it would have been 7-0 if Rogers’ “double yes” vote hadn’t run afoul of Council Clerk Tina Presley, who noted “double votes” were not a viable option on her voting tally sheet.

It was a brief but cheerful special meeting as the town council unanimously authorized the mayor’s signing the contract agreement with Joe Waltz to become Front Royal’s town manager. Below, prior to meeting’s convening as Joe Waltz checks his phone, Finance Director and Interim Town Manager B. J. Wilson appears relieved to be out of that interim position after two days.

Following the prescribed six-member vote of approval of the lone agenda item, Mayor Holloway adjourned the meeting at the 1-minute-26-second mark amidst applause, and congratulatory acknowledgments directed Waltz’s way. Following the adjournment, Royal Examiner asked Waltz about his three-year path out of and back to Front Royal.

“Yea, I went to Ohio and spent the last three years in Ohio, and I retired from there. And I moved back here, was doing some energy-related work for another company. But honestly, when I came back to the community in October and found the town was still looking for a town manager,” Waltz said, the professional pull back to this community was strong. “It’s another opportunity, and I’m excited to be back. When I left here, I left on good standings. I left because I was following a lifelong dream (in the energy management field). So yea, but my heart was always here in Front Royal,” Waltz said.

Of the apparent stall in finalizing a contract indicated by the gap between his announced return on November 9, originally envisioned to be ratified by November 21st, and the achieved ratification on the final day of November, Waltz observed, “I mean, we were just negotiating, you know, and that’s a process – it just takes time.”

Amidst photo taking of congratulatory handshakes, we asked the mayor and vice-mayor about resolution of the Waltz return after, as Councilman Rogers noted two days earlier, a period of some instability at the town manager’s position over the past three years following Waltz’s leaving to pursue a job in his first field of energy management.

Congratulations all around – if there were bumps in the rear-view mirror, the town manager road ahead looks cheerful and smooth with the return of a familiar, experienced, and popular with staff and citizens occupant. From top, congrats from Mayor Holloway, Councilmen Rogers, and Sealock.

“I’m glad to have him back, and so’s everybody else. I think Joe’ll be great,” Mayor Holloway said. Having just observed Waltz’s potential first assignment was to be sitting in on the 7 p.m. Town Planning Commission Special Meeting scheduled for the same Town Hall second-floor meeting room in which his hiring had just been finalized, the mayor added – “Hey, he signs a contract today, and he’s back to work tonight. Can’t beat that, he’s earning his money already.”

“I’m really happy about working with Joe,” Vice-Mayor Cockrell said, adding, “I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from citizens who reached out to me when they heard that Joe was potentially coming on board. We were happy, but to know that citizens were happy and all the employees were happy – that’s a win-win for me.”

Having overheard a portion of Waltz’s discussion with this reporter about his first tenure here, Cockrell observed, “I love the fact that you said you brought Kahle (Magalis, town police chief) on board, and Robbie (Boyer, public works director) was somebody you appointed. That’s two major departments here, so that’s great. And probably some of the other people right now who are now in supervisory roles you worked with when you were here. Because the majority of people, other than planning and zoning, everybody else, the departments, a lot of the people they were moved up through the department to get the positions where they are, so that’s a good sign.”

Vice-Mayor and Mayor-elect Lori Cockrell calls Waltz’s return to Town Hall a win-win for the community. Below, Waltz and Town Police Chief Kahle Magalis catch up following meeting’s adjournment as Councilman Gillispie moves in for a congratulatory handshake. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Front Royal’s Town Hall as experience, stability, and competence return to the Town Manager’s office – without the ‘help’ of an executive ‘headhunter’s’ consultant.

“We have a great staff here, we always did,” Waltz injected of the Town personnel he has interacted with.

And according to the mayor’s timetable, in about 55 minutes, he would apparently be getting to know some of those planning and zoning department personnel he would soon be establishing a relationship with.