By Cassie Goff | [email protected]

After three years working for Cottonwood Heights, former Assistant City Manager Bryce Haderlie has left the building he helped create. 

Haderlie began working for the city on Oct. 7, 2015. During his time between the canyons, he has worked in almost every segment of local government, including managing the administrative staff, aiding in the planning and construction of city hall, helping to flourish the IT department, re-vamping the city’s budget, providing assistance for the economic and community development and business staff, providing his own labor for events and planning a new public works department and even getting up early to help clear snow from city roads. 

Some of the more practical implementations from the IT department have been particularly exciting. “We got Microsoft Office 365 that allows for mobile access and server reliability has been improved. It’s been fun to see the improvements,” said Haderlie. 

In addition, he’s enjoyed watching the creation of the city’s public works department. When he began working for the city, most public works (including snowplowing) were contracted services. Former City Manager John Park tasked Haderlie with creating a new plan for snowplowing within the city. The plan proposed to the city council was to have an in-house public works department. Much to his surprise, the city council was supportive of this plan and quickly began working through the necessary steps. 

“The residents were given a public works department that serves them better than before,” said Haderlie. 

When current Public Works Director Matt Shipp was hired, he adjusted the plan slightly to help with the success of the new department. The city purchased 13 new snowplows and two backup trucks, which was council approved. Those trucks can now be seen staged at the public works yard. 

“Matt (Shipp) really took the plan and ran with it. We spent more on road repairs than we spent in a long time,” Haderlie said. 

Having more money for road repairs was one of the city council’s top priorities for this year’s budget. In earlier months, the council members, mayor and executive staff worked through the entire city budget.  

“We asked a lot of questions and made the budget more efficient,” Haderlie said. “The city council wanted more of an understanding of what services the budged included, so we got into that this year.” 

Haderlie eventually took over the budget and would present monthly finance reports during public city council meetings.  

“It was a lot of fun to dig into the budget. We identified over $400,000 in savings,” Haderlie said.

This year, the city council experienced change with two new council members and a new mayor being elected. Since Haderlie had been with the city for two years prior to the new council members being sworn in, he witnessed firsthand how a different council can influence a city. 

“Cottonwood Heights is still a relatively young city,” Haderlie explained. “The council had to talk it all out in the beginning. This council is the next evolution for the city and they are learning new ways of doing things.” Under the new council, their goal is for residents to be able to find more transparency, with more time for residents to read and understand things. 

This goal is to help residents be more involved in their local government. With over 25 years working in local government, Haderlie has witnessed residents influence city decisions time and time again. 

“Groups of individuals can influence their daily lives during a public hearing or city council meeting. Changes in idling laws, streets that are marked with no parking, bicycle routes, were all results of resident involvement in Cottonwood Heights. Residents of all ages should be aware of what’s going on. Anyone can come to the meetings and speak to the council,” encourages Haderlie.  

Additionally, he suggests that residents should take advantage of city events. “(Events Coordinator) Ann Eatchel and her staff work really hard to give this city something to celebrate. The events are phenomenal.”

Haderlie will miss the people he’s worked with. “I’ve loved working with the staff; they care about the city and have good support of the mayor and council. I’ve had a lot of fun working in Cottonwood Heights.”