WALKER, Mich. — Sometimes the best journeys start with not knowing where you're headed.
Shay Gallaghe admits that if you'd asked him in college about becoming a city manager, he would have told you he didn't even know such a job existed. Now, he's Walker's new city manager — the first outsider hired for the position in more than two decades.
"Walker is a wealth of opportunity," Gallagher told me during our sit-down interview Friday (Feb. 13). "It's geographically larger than Kentwood, but about half the population. There's exciting things happening with public works, a new library, lots of development."
And growth brings growing pains — something Gallagher knows firsthand from his journey through smaller municipalities across West Michigan. His resume reads like a roadmap of local government: Sparta, Algoma Township, Lakeview, Coopersville, back to Sparta, then Kentwood, and now Walker.
"Coming from smaller municipalities, it was really exciting to not have to wear so many hats," he said about his time in Kentwood. "I was able to focus on specific projects and then collaborate better with each department."
That collaborative approach seems to be exactly what Walker's City Commission was looking for. The hiring process moved with unusual speed for government work — candidates were heard, and a decision was made within hours.
"Understanding the timeline they were up against with Darrel ( Schmalzel)'s retirement and Frank (Wash)'s departure last fall, I could understand why they'd want to move quickly," Gallagher explained. "Each of those [communities and staff] are kind of living organisms. With the removal of leadership, there's anxiety within those systems."
His management style? "Democratic and servant leadership," he says. "I'm here to fulfill the commission's goals, but also serve the residents and staff and visitors of this community."
Gallagher noted the city needs residential development — Kent County definitely needs more housing stock — but residents want to maintain that "great place to live, work and grow" character that makes Walker special.
It's what I think of as the "big small town" challenge. You can see it in action any day at Walker City Hall, where residents still show up to pay their taxes in person. Especially on Friday (Feb. 13), the deadline for winter payment.
Gallagher gets that. He and his wife are actually looking to move from Grand Rapids to the Walker area, especially now that they have an 11-month-old daughter.
The technical side of city management doesn't intimidate him. "It has to be pretty technical," he acknowledges, "but also trusting the professionals you have in those roles to help guide you is one of the biggest things. They are the technical experts in plowing snow, in responding to emergencies and dealing with police-type things."
What strikes me about Gallaghe is that he represents something Walker hasn't seen in a generation — fresh eyes on familiar challenges. he's spent over a decade in West Michigan local government, so he understands the region. But he's also bringing experience from communities that have navigated growth and change.
For a city that's been stable for so long, that outside perspective might be exactly what Walker needs as it writes its next chapter.
His door is open, he says, to anyone who wants to understand what the City Commission is doing and why. In a community where people still prefer to conduct business face-to-face, accessibility matters.
For the record: Car or truck? He says truck. Dog or cat? He says dog. Road trips or flying? He is some of both, but with a young toddler, his preference might evolve.
Have a story idea in Walker, Northview, or Comstock Park? Email Robb at robb.westaby@fox17online.com
