SHINNSTON — City Manager Travis Blosser told The Exponent Telegram Friday night that he is leaving Shinnston for the city manager position in Weirton.
Blosser, 23, of Fairmont, said the chance to move to a city the size of Weirton, which has about 19,000 residents, was a factor, as well as Weirton itself.
“I’m looking for a place to put down roots, and Weirton is that place,” Blosser said.
Blosser first came to Shinnston as assistant city manager about two years ago. He became city manager about eight months ago when Debra Herndon retired.
“There’s definitely nothing wrong with Shinnston,” Blosser said. “It’s a great municipality, and I’ve enjoyed working with the mayor (Sam DeMarco) and council.
Blosser, who is under contract, will have to pay three months’ salary as a buyout, DeMarco said when contacted by phone. Blosser is currently making $48,000 a year.
Because of that and Blosser’s closeness to his hometown of Fairmont, which is also looking for a city manager, DeMarco said he was surprised to see him leave for Weirton.
“We received notification from him around 3 or 4 o’clock on Friday,” DeMarco said.
The mayor said council will likely discuss the situation during an already scheduled work session on Monday.
“We’ll work aggressively to get somebody to replace him,” DeMarco said. “We have momentum moving forward. Debra did a great job, Travis continued that, and we’ll work to continue in that direction.”
Blosser said he values the time spent improving Shinnston, working with DeMarco and council on a number of projects, including water treatment plant upgrades, restructuring of debt and helping the city gain Home Rule status.
DeMarco said Blosser’s fin- ancial background greatly helped the city.
“His financial background was very strong. He has our finances moving in the right direction,” DeMarco said. “He worked putting together a water improvement plan that is ahead of schedule. We’ve had a lot of positives.”
You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Post a comment as Anonymous Commenter
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.