Strasburg community development director leaving for Staunton

Below is an article that appeared in the Northern Virginia Daily on March 8th, 2021. 

STRASBURG – Strasburg Community Development Director Michelle Bixler is leaving town for a position with the City of Staunton. Starting March 15, she will become that city's communications manager.

“The Town of Strasburg has treated me well,” Bixler states in an email to The Northern Virginia Daily. “I am moving on because there is an opportunity to share my skills elsewhere, and the team here in Strasburg is poised to move the initiatives and goals of the community and Town Council forward.”

Bixler said she will be responsible for the development, management and administration of strategic outreach, media relations, and communications of city and school-wide initiatives for external and internal audiences.

Her undergraduate degree was focused on public relations and communications and most of the positions she’s held over the past two decades in the private, nonprofit and public sectors have built and diversified her skill set in that field, she states.

Strasburg Town Manager Wyatt Pearson praised Bixler.

“As stated by (Strasburg) Mayor Brandy Boies recently, Staunton’s gain is our loss,” Pearson states in an email to The Northern Virginia Daily. “Michelle’s colleagues and friends here at the Town know her as an extremely dedicated public servant who helped advance the Town’s goals beyond the scope of her job duties. We wish her and her family the best as they work through this transition.”

Strasburg Community Development Coordinator Olivia Hilton said Bixler is forward-thinking, community-focused, and has been an asset to the Town of Strasburg.

“As her colleague, I can genuinely express my gratitude for her work and my sadness that she is stepping into the next leg of her professional journey," Hilton states by email to the Northern Virginia Daily. "Michelle has been instrumental in establishing and expanding the Community Development Department and our team aims to continue that progress and gear up for another year. We all wish her the best! Thank you, Michelle!”

Bixler’s position with Strasburg included but was not limited to the responsibilities of economic development, tourism and the visitor center, general marketing, the parks and pool, events and various project management activities, Pearson states in the email. Whenever the town loses someone, they try to take some time to reevaluate that position in the context of the current needs of the community, he noted about finding a replacement and any changes to the position’s responsibilities.

“That is exactly the process we are working through now and I hope to have something before the Town Council very soon,” Pearson states. Hilton will provide assistance during the transition and her role may be impacted by the eventual proposal Pearson has for the Town Council, he states.

Hilton, who will be acting in the capacity of community development director, notes that there are projects that will continue to move forward, such as the implementation of the Master Parks Plan, the COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Assistance grant process in partnership with the county, and the Discover 2025 Strategic Plan.

The hiring of existing positions does not require Town Council approval, but the restructuring of a department or position may if it has an impact on the overall budget allocation for those departments and/or positions, which remains to be seen, Pearson states. The 2020 fiscal year budget for the Community Development Department, which includes Parks and Recreation, the visitor center and Economic Development, totaled $489,709. Bixler’s salary with the town is $68,975.

Bixler stated the town developed connections with large and small businesses, schools, artists and guests, while also hosting a wide variety of events, developing recreational programs and more. She called her time in Strasburg "incredibly gratifying.”

“After almost five years, the community development department has evolved from a single employee tackling projects to a team of people working together to make Strasburg a terrific place to live, work and recreate. ...My most notable accomplishments have been those of our team's, and I am incredibly grateful for what they bring to the table every single day,” she states in the email.

In the short term, she will be commuting for her work, but in the long term her husband and two children, a 10-year-old and a 7 1/2-year-old, look forward to being Staunton residents. With family in the area, she will maintain a connection to the Shenandoah County area, she states.

“I am so grateful for my time here,” Bixler states. “The community support has been paramount, businesses have demonstrated resiliency time and again, and my colleagues throughout the town, county and region have been invaluable. None of the improvements that have occurred during my tenure in Strasburg would have been possible without each of those contributions. I came here excited to do the job, and I leave here having loved my job every day. So, thank you, Strasburg.”

Contact Charles Paullin at cpaullin@nvdaily.com