Kingsport’s Assistant City Manager, Ryan McReynolds, Named TCAPWA 2018 Leader of the Year

The City of Kingsport’s Assistant City Manager for Operations, Ryan McReynolds, recently received the 2018 Public Works Leader of the Year award by the Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works Association (TCAPWA).

The Leader of the Year program honors excellence and dedication in public service by recognizing career service achievements of individual public works professionals and officials, from both the public and private sectors. As one of the most prestigious awards presented by the Tennessee chapter of the association, the Leader award is given to honor the public works professional’s career, in which he or she demonstrated excellence in public works, services and infrastructure in his or her community through advancement of public works services and technology.

McReynolds has been with the City of Kingsport for more than 14 years and has over 24 years of public works experience. His Civil Engineering degree, coupled with a Master of Business Administration, provides the citizens of Kingsport confidence that the city is moving services forward while maintaining the lowest cost structure. The departments that McReynolds ultimately oversees include drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater treatment and collection, stormwater management, streets maintenance, sanitation collection, traffic management, fleet operations, property and building maintenance, transportation planning and the city’s engineering division.

“We are blessed to have such a wonderful team within Public Works,” explains McReynolds.

When pressed to describe the department’s success, he explains that combining Mayor and Aldermen support with the dedication and ownership of the city’s workforce provides the right recipe for success.

“Our board fully understands the expectations of the citizens evidenced by their financial commitment to the city’s infrastructure. Our employees are our neighbors and truly care about the future of Kingsport,” stated McReynolds.

The city has moved forward in many ways under the direction of McReynolds.

• PaveKingsport: the city’s sustainable paving program that allows for every road to be paved in a 20-25 year cycle
• Automated Garbage, Recycle & Leaf Collection: the conversion enhanced the service level while lowering the cost structure
• Automated Water Meter Reading: provides a safer work environment while lowering the cost structure
• Raw Water Tunnel: construction of the tunnel has provided a protected source of drinking water for the next century
• Wastewater Treatment Plant Rebuild: ensures that we are protecting our citizens and environment

“Our employees understand that they have the privilege of running the city’s operations on a daily basis,” said McReynolds. “Not everyone has that privilege – not everyone can go home at night knowing that they produced water clean enough to mix with baby formula, that they cleaned the streets and removed the trash for their neighbors, or that they provided a safe passage through city traffic.”

For more information about APWA’s awards program, contact Rhonda Wilhite, Awards & Chapter Relations Associate, at (816) 595-5261 or rwilhite@apwa.net.