Newburgh Council Lacks Public Plan as City Manager Exits March 31

With City Manager Todd Venning's resignation effective March 31, Newburgh's seven-member City Council has yet to agree on how to replace him, has held no definitive discussions about a transition, and has not listed the position as open on the city's official website.

Councilman Rob McLymore put the urgency plainly. "I think we as a council have to get together and start discussing the transition," he said. "Two weeks left, we don't want to leave the city in a vulnerable position where we have no city manager, or we are still contemplating on who is going to be the interim."

Mayor Torrance Harvey, who has said the council is deliberating its next move, laid out two options at a special work session: promote Deputy City Manager Mike Neppl to a full term as city manager and then search for a new deputy, or appoint an interim manager while conducting an open search for a permanent replacement. Despite that framework being on the table, McLymore said there had been no discussions about an interim manager and no definitive game plan at all.

The council is divided over which path to take, a dynamic complicated further by the procedural bar for any appointment: naming a city manager requires five votes out of seven, a supermajority that demands broad consensus on a council that does not currently appear to have it.

Council member Giselle Martinez said her primary concern was establishing a clear procedure for selecting the new city manager. Council member Zorilla echoed that emphasis on process over speed. "I think creating precedent and having process, and making sure that we think about the future of an institution that we are stewarding right now is what's important," Zorilla said.

Neppl, who currently serves as deputy city manager, has been floated as both an interim and permanent candidate, but McLymore said no conversations about filling the role have taken place. The city has not posted the position on its official website, leaving no public record of an open search underway.

Venning's final day is two and a half weeks away, and the council has no publicly announced vote, work session, or candidate review scheduled before the clock runs out.