The Town of Smyrna welcomes a new town manager.
Sheldon Hudson served as Millsboro’s town manager from 2016 until stepping down last April.
Hudson attended his first official council meeting in Smyrna this week as an observer and now plans to hit the ground running.
“Like Millsboro, Smyrna is obviously in an evolution that’s progressing as a town," he said. "So I would say probably what I will focus on first is listening and observing, which is an approach I took in Millsboro.”
Hudson adds that includes talking to internal and external stakeholders for the first year he’s on the job to determine where he can help,
“I plan to talk to internal and external stakeholders; also just quietly observing and seeing how things run. It’s important to me that things run efficiently and effectively," he said. "I think the average taxpayer is willing to pay a reasonable amount as long as they feel like they’re getting a good value - getting their money's worth so to speak.”
Hudson says one of his main roles as city manager is to make sure that’s happening and he always has the best interest of Smyrna’s 13,000 residents at heart.
He takes over a town with an annual budget of $28 million.
Hudson replaces Andrew Haines, who resigned to take a job in the private sector in August.
Smyrna Police Chief Torrie James has served as acting town manager since Haines’ departure.
