Hale Looking Forward To Stepping In As City Manager

Valerie Hale said she is excited about the chance to take over as Crossville City Manager.

Council unanimously selected Hale this week to replace the retiring Greg Wood. Hale began with the city in 2010 and has served as City Clerk since 2017. She said her experience working alongside the rest of the city staff has helped prepare her for the transition.

“I’ve been able to be involved in multiple facets of the city,” Hale said. “Such as finance, the grant management, project management, many different areas of the city. So, I kind of touched on all of them. And as far as becoming city clerk, they’ve been very supportive.”

Hale said the current council has been one of the best councils she has had the chance to work with. She said the opportunity to carry out their vision is an exciting opportunity.

“I already know the staff, you know, on a personal level,” Hale said. “We don’t have to worry about that. I already know the city’s operating procedures, so we have eliminated a huge learning curve by promoting someone from within.”

Hale said Wood announced his plans for retirement in November of 2023, but she did not apply for the position until January. She said the quality of the city staff and the chance to continue with what Wood has started ultimately brought her to submit her application.

“As far as the city growing and improving, we have a lot of projects already underway improving the infrastructure,” Hale said. “We hope to continue those obviously.”

Hale said the downtown sidewalk project is getting ready to start and she looks forward to helping the city navigate that. She said several Community Resource Grants that the city has applied for will also be high priorities during the start of her work in the new position. She said she is happy to be able to play a role in the new greenway trail project set to get underway soon as well.

Hale officially begins April 1 in the new role.