Longtime Putnam County Manager Paul Van Haute announced plans to retire several months ago and served his final day in office last week.
Waiting in the wings to replace him is former Greene County Manager Byron Lombard, who sat beside Van Haute for the May 19 county commission meeting.
Shortly before the meeting wrapped up, County Chairman Bill Sharp and the commissioners took the opportunity to thank Van Haute for his service and stewardship of the county’s finances.
“The winner of Paul being here is the citizens of Putnam County, but I will tell you that he looks after his staff like family,” Sharp said. “We have over 330 people that work for Putnam County … and it’s the decisions that Paul makes, the way he manages people, and the way he spends Putnam County’s money is like he spends his own. He’s done a marvelous job.”
Still in his rookie term, District 1 Commissioner Tom McElhenney called Van Haute’s influence and advice “invaluable in learning what it is to be a commissioner.”
“I don’t think you could get enough credit for what you’ve done for Putnam County,” McElhenney added. “Not everybody sees that every day, but you have saved this county, I know, millions of dollars.”
Likewise, District 2’s Richard Garrett, also in his first term, said Van Haute has “big shoes to fill,” but that Van Haute helped to recruit Lombard for his replacement gives Garrett added confidence going forward.
District 3 Commissioner Steve Hersey also praised Van Haute’s lengthy tenure.
“Let me just say that I’ve known and worked with Paul for 13 years now, shortly after he was appointed as the county manager, and it has been a real pleasure,” Hersey said. “He has operated the county in a great way.”
Finally, District 4 Commissioner Jeff Wooten said he’s served on many district and business-related boards for 20 years, and he’s never seen an administrator so skilled and able to get things done quickly and correctly the first time around.
“He always had people that he could put his finger on it and go get it done,” Wooten said. “And that means a lot when you answer to the public.”
For his part, Van Haute said after the meeting that he plans to take it easy for a while — though he admitted he didn’t know how long that would actually last.