Administrator Brown to leave Port in fall for Waukesha

Official hired in 2020 credited with bringing accountability to city

PORT WASHINGTON City Administrator Tony Brown posed downtown after being hired in April 2020. He told aldermen Tuesday he will resign in November to take a job in Waukesha. Press file photo
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

Tony Brown, who has been Port Washington’s city administrator since April 2020, is leaving to become administrator of the City of Waukesha.

Brown, who informed the Common Council of his decision Tuesday night, will  leave his job on Nov. 10 — as the 2024 budget process is completed — Mayor Ted Neitzke said.

“We’re very sad he’s moving on,” Neitzke said. “I’m going to miss him.”

Brown, he said, has been a strong leader for the city even though his tenure was short — one reason he’s not entirely surprised Brown’s leaving.

“When you have good leadership, people notice. And once they notice it, they try to take it,” Neitzke said.

Brown said, in an announcement, “Throughout my tenure, one of the most important goals has always been to leave the community in a better state than when I began, and I genuinely believe we have achieved that.

“The substantial initiatives ... should be seen as long-term investments. These need-based investments are like the ones made in the post-World War II era in that they are to drive progress for the future by addressing the known challenges we face in the near and long term.”

Those initiatives, he said, include improvements to the water and wastewater plants, planning for a joint public safety facility and lighthouse maintenance project and staffing issues in the Fire and Street departments.

Neitzke said  Brown brought to the city a renewed sense of accountability.

Under Brown’s leadership, he noted, the city embarked on a strategic planning process.

Brown “brought some good, common sense practices” to the city, helped officials address numerous issues that were previously “kicked down the road” and helped the city “become more customer-centric,” Neitzke said. “He’s done a really nice job professionalizing things as the city has expanded.”

Brown has been with the city through some significant times, most notably the pandemic, which took hold just as he started work in Port.

Brown is only the city’s third administrator, succeeding longtime Administrator Mark Grams, who retired.

Neitzke said the city will “be very aggressive” in recruiting its next administrator.

He said he, Common Council President Dan Benning and Emily Blakeslee, the city’s human resources director and assistant city administrator, will meet Friday to map out a strategy to find the city’s next administrator.

Although the city had hired a firm to conduct an executive search for Gram’s replacement, Neitzke said that may not happen this time because the city didn’t have a human resources director in place when Grams retired.

Port, he added, shouldn’t have any trouble attracting experienced candidates.

“We believe we can attract some veteran talent,” he said, noting that the city is a vibrant and growing community.

Neitzke said he doesn’t think the city will have a new administrator in place by the time Brown leaves.

“My ideal timeline would be to have someone in place by the end of the year,” he said.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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