MORGANTOWN — Kim Haws doesn’t hesitate when asked if his experience as Morgantown’s city manager was what he expected when he took the job four years ago.
“No,” he said. “And I’ll tell you why.”
It’s Thursday afternoon and he’s sat in an audience chair in the corner of Morgantown City Council chambers speaking over a collected crowd of well-wishers about his retirement, which officially began on Saturday.
“This job is much more community based. In other cities, you have the luxury of being able to do work independently and make recommendations to city council and they act on it. Here, it takes real scrutiny from the public. That’s what’s really been the difference, public scrutiny. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s the democratic process,” he said. “I won’t say it hasn’t existed in other cities, but to this level? I’ve absolutely never experienced that.”
Haws said he grew to develop a great appreciation for the amount of engagement this community has with its city government.
“Morgantown has a sense of family and fierce loyalty for the community and it creates a lot of emotion. Sometimes that’s not real productive. In the end, we all want the same thing. Here, the community gets involved; the community groups,” he said. “I’ve appreciated that environment.”
In early November of 2020 – days after Morgantown City Council voted unanimously to bring Haws to Morgantown – he told The Dominion Post that his success or failure in the role would come down to trust and relationships.
He leaves confident he’s been able to build both to the city’s benefit.
“I think we’ve really worked hard and the city council has been very supportive of my participation in community groups, working with [Morgantown Area Partnership], working with the [Monongalia County Development Authority], working with the university. We’ve got to be together instead of always being divisive,” he said. “It’s been a really wonderful thing to be able to work on these different projects knowing you’ve got friends who are working alongside you as partners.”
His time has not been without conflict. He concedes there are some internal relationships that could still use some mending.
“If we wanted to be popular, we would have never tackled the pension program, overtime and the lack of control in that area. Also our compensation plan had to be changed. That was one of the first things city council originally set as one of my goals,” he said. “We did that, but it’s been hard. It’s been two and a half years to get to this point where it’s really working. We’ve had to compromise. I’ve worked with the police department on some of the things that have been a bother to them and we’ve tweaked the program.”
Retirement comes as Haws prepares to celebrate 50 years of marriage with this wife, Toni. The couple has 10 children and 33 – soon to be 35 – grandchildren spread across the United States.
“My family is the center of my universe,” he said, explaining family has always been central in his decision making when it comes to job opportunities. Those decisions led the Haws family from St. Johns, Arizona; to East Palestine, Ohio; to Bridgeport, and, finally, to Morgantown.
He said he’ll carry each one of those communities with him into retirement.
“It’s one thing to miss doing projects, and I’m going to miss some of the projects we’ve been working on, but what I’m going to miss most are the relationships that have been built. That’s probably the most difficult part of leaving. Honestly, it’s kept me from leaving even earlier. I just haven’t wanted to go,” he said. “It’s been a great ride. Being in Morgantown and finishing my 40-year career here in Morgantown has been marvelous. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
