WALKER, Mich. — The nameplate in city commission chambers reads "Darryl Schmalzel, City Manager," but come February 28, that nameplate will be gone.
After nearly 40 years in local government—28 of them with the city of Walker—Schmalzel has announced his retirement. The news comes at a time when the community he's helped shape faces unprecedented change, with five of seven elected officials also turning over due to term limits.
"It's always been our plan, my wife and I, to retire when we reached a certain milestone," Schmalzel told me. "The time has come."
For Walker Mayor Gary Carey, who describes Schmalzel's tenure as "stable, consistent, fiscally sound," the departure represents more than just a personnel change. It's the end of an institutional memory that spans decades of transformation for the city.
Schmalzel arrived in Walker as planning director in the late 1990s, when Northridge Drive was just breaking ground on its first phase and development pressure was mounting throughout the north end of town. He witnessed—and helped orchestrate—the community's evolution from a collection of neighborhoods into a destination.
Before Walker, Schmalzel spent a decade at Cascade Township during equally transformative years—before the airport expansion, before the south belt was constructed. He was there for the early discussions about a north-south runway at what is now Gerald R. Ford International Airport and routing decisions that would reshape West Michigan.
That planning background, Carey emphasized, has been crucial to Walker's growth strategy. City managers with that vision can "see around the corner," understanding that today's decisions play out like moves in a chess game rather than checkers.
"He can see community development," Carey explained. "You have to understand what are those moves that are three and four and five moves ahead. What does this look like decades down the road?"
The timing of Schmalzel's departure coincides with broader turnover in city leadership. Walker's term limits mean four of the current seven elected officials must step down this year, creating what Carey calls "change management" on a scale the community hasn't experienced.
The search for Schmalzel's replacement is already underway through the Michigan Municipal League, with interviews scheduled to begin after the job posting closes January 16. The goal is to have a successor in place by the February 28 city commission meeting—Schmalzel's final day.
As city manager, Schmalzel oversees 13 departments in Walker's council-manager form of government, where elected officials set policy and the manager implements it. The arrangement creates clear lines between political authority and professional administration—a balance Schmalzel has navigated with what Carey describes as consistent leadership.
"What I love about him is just very consistent, down the middle of the road. I tend to have too much caffeine in the day and come in here and can get some others wound up," Carey said with a laugh. "It's been kind of a nice yin and yang."
The COVID-19 pandemic represented perhaps the greatest test of that steady leadership. Essential services had to continue—police calls, fire emergencies, road maintenance, and bill paying—while navigating unprecedented public health challenges.
"That was a huge challenge that we all struggled with," Schmalzel recalled. "One I don't think any of us want to relive again." But the experience led to operational improvements that continue benefiting the city today.
For Schmalzel, retirement means time for travel, family, and those home improvement projects that have waited patiently while he managed a growing city. For Carey, it means expressing gratitude for "an incredible run" with a leader who embodied Walker's own values.
"The definition of success is, did you leave it better than when you started," Carey said. "And my answer to Darryl is hell yes, he did leave it better than when he started."
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