New Town Manager To Take The Reins Feb. 1

BY ALEX RUOFF | DELAWARE COAST PRESS

DEWEY BEACH — A planner from Georgia has officially signed on as Dewey’s next town manager, replacing 26-year employee Gordon Elliott. Diana Smith, 42, a long-range planner from Camden County, Ga., has signed a three-year contract and is expected to start Feb. 1. She was selected in December to fill the full-time position after the Town Council decided not to renew Elliott’s contract.

“Getting to talk with Diana and being involved in the process, I think she’s easily qualified for the position,” said Mayor Richard Solloway. “We have a lot of work to do with the systems and processes we have in place … and she is very much ready to do that.”

The position is currently being filled by Ken Lodge, who is tasked with assisting Smith as she becomes familiar with the job and local issues.

Smith said she began her career in government as Camden County’s clerk, preparing agendas and looking over budgets, almost 20 years ago. She became the county’s director of strategic planning after developing the area’s first land-use plan.

“I’m most proud of what we did with smart growth and planning the area’s future,” she said.
Her first task in coming to Dewey, she said, is to begin making contacts and getting up to speed with what needs to be done in town.

“I’m looking forward to starting the transition,” she said. “I think first I’ll be looking at the current procedures and policies in place so they can be things we want to implement in the future.”

Town officials said they chose Smith because of her experience in long-term planning, as well as grant writing.
“I think she is an excellent choice,” Commissioner Diane Hanson said. “She has the most experience in most of the areas we’re looking for — legal experience, zoning experience, municipal experience, and strategic planning experience. You name, she has it.”