OUR VIEW: Muzzy seems good pick for town manager

Staff Editorial
Published: September 13, 2008

» SUMMARY: It appears as though the Culpeper Town Council has found a well-qualified town manager in Jeff Muzzy.

The Culpeper Town Council took a needed step last week to secure leadership that will see the town through a period that has the potential to be one of the most hectic in history.

The council selected veteran manager Jeff Muzzy as its new town manager at Tuesday’s meeting. In getting Muzzy, it’s obvious the council searched for a manager that has a wide range of experience, including stints leading large municipalities through periods of growth and prosperity.

Culpeper is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. Water and sewer issues, a possible consolidation vote and challenging economic conditions only complicate the immediate future.

It is vital that the person who oversees the day-to-day operations of the town have a diverse background so that he can lead through experience rather than through trial and error.

Muzzy has worked in Chesterfield and Prince George counties and served as city manager of Garland, Texas. He even helped cities in the Middle East develop sound economic development plans.

It appears as though Muzzy is ideally suited for the challenges he will face in Culpeper.

We welcome Muzzy and look forward to seeing his vision for Culpeper and we congratulate the council for finding what appears to be a solid leader.
It wouldn’t be right to heap all this praise on our new town manager and the council without mentioning Tom Huggard.

Huggard, a former councilman, has served as acting manager since December, taking over for the eight months since former Town Manager Brannon Godfrey left to become Winchester’s top administrator.

Huggard saw to it that the town never missed a beat on his watch and it would be easy to say that a tremendous amount of progress was made in areas like infrastructure and cooperation with other agencies.

Tom Huggard, thanks for a job well done.