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How Wyoming's new city manager plans to move city forward

Shay says one of his big priorities is improving public safety in Wyoming.

WYOMING, Mich. — Just one day after being appointed Wyoming's new City Manager, John Shay sat down with 13 ON YOUR SIDE about what he hopes to accomplish.

Shay made headlines back in January after a newly-elected Ottawa County Board of Commissioners fired Shay, and replaced him with former congressional candidate John Gibbs.

In addition to his time in Ottawa County, Shay also served as the city manager of Ludington and the village manager of Almont. In all, he has worked in local government for 25 years.

As Shay acclimates to his new role, his main focus is getting to know the community and his colleagues.

"I want to take some time to get to know the mayor and the city council, get to know them a little bit more as people and also kind of learn what their priorities and vision are in terms of how they want to see the city move forward," Shay said. "I had a chance to meet with some of them last week, found them to be very professional, dedicated, enthusiastic, and that was part of the attraction for Wyoming. And then just also meet some of the bigger businesses, the school districts, some of the organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, and kind of get to know the community a little bit and learn from them what they think Wyoming does well, and maybe some areas where they'd like to see the city move forward."

Shay says one of his big priorities is improving public safety in Wyoming. One of the ways he hopes to do it is through the public safety millage, which will be voted on by the community May 2.

"That's a very important vote for the citizens of Wyoming. The city currently has hired 17 Public Safety positions, and this millage would help not only fund that, but hire additional public safety personnel. That's been identified as one of the top priorities in the city."

If passed, it would provide roughly $4,000,000 to the Public Safety Department. A big beneficiary of the millage would be the Wyoming Fire Department, which is facing staffing shortages and aging equipment. 

Overall, Shay is excited to take on this position and get to work for the City of Wyoming.

"I just I'm really excited to start here in Wyoming. I've been impressed with how supportive the mayor and the city council have been, and how great the staff has treated me since I've started this process and I can't wait to get started."

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