New Wayne City Manager Works to Improve City Services

WAYNE - Wayne City Manager Diane Webb took on her new role on January 23 of this year, after being selected for the job by Wayne City Council on December 19. Former city manager Lisa Nocerini resigned the position in August 2023 and Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong had been serving as interim city manager in the months since. A native of Garden City, Webb brings with her a wealth of skills and experience having begun her work life with Michigan Bell (now AT&T) where she began as a field technician, a position which was male-dominated at the time. She worked her way through college, earning a degree in Organizational Communication and Development from Eastern Michigan University and a master's degree in Public Relations from Wayne State University. She received numerous advancements in her 18 years with the company. "My first job was at that Michigan Bell building on Michigan Avenue, so it's a little bit ironic that I've come full-circle 38 years later," she says.

In 2003, Webb was elected to a seat on Garden City's City Council, where she served four years. She then served on the Wayne County Commission for six consecutive terms where she served as chairman on the Committee on Government Operations. In 2020, she was selected to serve as township superintendent for Redford Township, a role she says allowed her to put into practice the knowledge and skill she had been accumulating in both the private sector and governmental operations. "It was the perfect marriage of everything I had ever done," she recalls. "It took my corporate-government experience, my corporate project management and customer service, and government relations; those are the fundamentals of a city manager's job: project management, customer service, and government relations. And with 15 years in elected office I understood the legislative process. I just found city management jobs to be the perfect culmination of everything I had ever done prior."

The city of Wayne operates under the council-manager form of government, where the city manager is responsible for the administration of city operations and implementing the polices established by the city council. Mayor John Rhaesa serves as the city's chief elected official and representative, and works closely with the city council to create and implement such things as city ordinances and the city's annual budget.

Webb says she has spent the past five months assessing the city's strengths and weaknesses and is developing goals that city leaders can work to accomplish. Her vision for the city of Wayne is one which is attractive to both residents and visitors and will attract families and new businesses as well. She adds that the city's main assets are its vibrant downtown region and its parks and trail system. The downtown area will see updated landscaping and beautification projects this year as the city seeks out options for growth with the goal of creating a downtown with visitor appeal. Webb says, "We would like to take a look at filling those properties, filling those vacant buildings and really making a cute walkable downtown that people enjoy coming to."

As for the parks in the city, Webb says the option of developing some of the park properties to bring in much-needed revenue for the city is being considered. She explains that the city is six square miles, with two of those miles occupied by Ford Motor Company. The remaining approximately four miles of the city are served by 18 parks, an extremely dense number for a small city. "The best way to function is to grow revenue, and the best way to grow revenue is the highest and best use of your properties. Where we have a high concentration of parks, we'll be developing a couple of them, not all of them because we want to keep a nice amount of pocket parks in the neighborhoods but we don't need 10 of them in one neighborhood." Kiwanis Park was redeveloped into 22 residential homes in recent years. Webb says the city is applying for grants to revive and maintain the city's parks and hiking and bike trails and says Forest Park will receive upgrades to its ball fields and pavilion. Another grant will provide for renovations at Goudy Park.

Webb adds that the city will be celebrating its Bicentennial this year having been established in 1824. Whether looking at the city's culture, history, public services, or community events, Webb says she takes her mission seriously to deliver city services and operations to the residents of Wayne. She says, "I just want to maximize the city's services and I want it to run at its highest potential. The internal operations of the city, I want them to run like a fine-oiled machine. As resources become available, we're going to be investing in things to make the community better and stronger."