Newburgh deputy city manager resigns, adding to leadership shakeup

Michael Neppl’s resignation just five months after a $35,000 raise raises a blunt question at Newburgh City Hall: how much leadership turnover can the city absorb before it starts affecting daily government and long-term planning?

Neppl stepped down from the deputy city manager post after being elevated from chief of staff into a newly created executive job that was formally established through Newburgh’s 2026 budget and a corresponding local law. City officials said the role was meant to support the city’s expanding operational and development agenda, but his exit now adds to a management shakeup that has already unsettled the top tier of the administration.

The city’s own staff directory describes Neppl as a fifth-generation Newburgh native, an attorney and a 25-year veteran of New York State government and politics. It also says the deputy city manager is responsible for supporting the city manager in daily operations and program implementation for Newburgh’s roughly $100 million annual budget, serving as chief press officer, managing strategic partnerships and chairing the Newburgh Industrial Development Agency.

Neppl’s departure comes after a broader leadership transition that began with former City Manager Todd Venning’s resignation in April. Many in city government had expected Neppl to follow Venning out the door, but Mayor Torrance Harvey said he was still surprised by the timing. Neppl is believed to be headed to a municipality in Westchester County, meaning Newburgh will lose another key administrator while it tries to keep routine operations and longer-term planning on track.

The vacancy also underscores how unsettled the city’s succession process has been. Earlier reporting said a January straw poll did not give Neppl the five votes needed for the city manager job. In March, the Newburgh City Council appointed Jason Morris as interim city manager instead of Neppl, leaving Morris, the city engineer and commissioner of public works, to hold together day-to-day operations. City records now list Morris as interim city manager, commissioner of public works and city engineer.

That arrangement leaves Newburgh relying on a second-tier administrator at a time when the city is still wrestling with major public and private development issues, regular municipal services and political pressure to show stability. Earlier reporting said nine department heads and directors left during Venning’s tenure, a level of churn that has made continuity at City Hall harder to maintain.

Harvey said the city now has to start searching for a replacement while continuing to lean on Morris. For taxpayers and city workers, the practical consequence is clear: another leadership decision is coming fast, and Newburgh’s next move will help determine whether its government can steady itself or keep cycling through vacancies at the top.