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Assistant City Manager Resigns

Nov 06, 2015 12:52PM ● By Taylor Stevens

By Taylor Stevens

West Jordan - Assistant city manager Bryce Haderlie resigned and took up tenure as the assistant city manager for Cottonwood Heights on Oct. 5, leaving a hole for the position in West Jordan City.

Haderlie worked for the city for nearly three years. He worked as the assistant city manager until August of last year, when he was chosen as interim city manager for a year. The city manager position was filled last month, and Haderlie returned to his position, with a pay increase he’d negotiated with the city until finding another position. 

“I want to thank you as a council for the opportunity that I have had to serve here with you,” Haderlie said at his last city council meeting on Sep. 23, as he announced his decision to move cities. 

“I want to thank our staff tremendously for the support that they have given me during the last year, and obviously before that, and I can’t tell them how much I have appreciated how well they have stood together to make sure we perform as well as we have,” he said. “And last of all, I want to thank our citizens in this great city for their support and the opportunity to be a servant to them.” 

Haderlie said his wife and their children will continue to live in West Jordan City. 

At the Sept. 23 city council meeting, some members of the council expressed their appreciation for Haderlie’s service to the city.

“I feel that we’ve lost a good leader in our city,” said Councilmember Chad Nichols. “I personally witnessed a strong work ethic in that I’d call him—this is no joke—I would call, text, email him at any imaginable hour of the night, and he would respond. We will be missing that.” 

West Jordan’s newly-hired city manager Mark Palesh, who was competing with Haderlie for the position only a few weeks prior to Haderlie’s resignation, said, “I’ve only been here two weeks, and I’ve had assistant city managers before…but I certainly would rate Bryce at the top of what I’ve worked with.” 

Throughout his year as interim city manager, Haderlie also maintained his duties as assistant city manager. He told the city council when negotiating his wage increase that this working arrangement resulted in him working well over 40 hours per week. 

“During this last year, my family and I have incurred many challenges with my schedule that I didn’t anticipate having,” Haderlie told the council at the Aug. 12 meeting. “Fulfilling both the city manager and assistant city manager time frame has been very time consuming. It’s caused me to miss a lot of family time and to work many, many hours. I consistently work over 40 hours, even on weeks when I’m only here four days.” 

Councilmember Ben Southworth recognized the toll this took on Haderlie and his family in his closing remarks at the Sep. 23 council meeting.

“Bryce, thank you,” Southworth said. “Thank you to your family. Thank you for your service to the City of West Jordan. You’ll leave a big hole.” 

The city’s job posting for the assistant city manager position closed Oct. 21, and the city is hoping to find someone to fill the hole in the next few months, according to public information officer Kim Wells.