Evesham Township Manager William Cromie has dedicated the past 35 years of his life to serving the people of Evesham Township, but at the end of this year, his long journey of public service will come to an end.
At the July 15 meeting of the Evesham Township Council, Cromie publically announced his retirement effective Dec. 31.
Cromie expressed his thanks to Mayor Randy Brown and the council for the opportunity to serve them and the residents of Evesham, but said he knew it was time for him to move on.
“It’s been a delight, but a lot of the people tell me you know when you’re ready to retire, and I do know I’m ready,” Cromie said.
Cromie first moved to Evesham in 1986, and began working for the township in 1988 as a patrolman with the police department.
He reached the rank of captain before leaving the department in 2004 when he was asked to become the deputy township manager. He held that position until 2006 when he took over as superintendent of public works for five years.
In 2011, Cromie was appointed as interim township manager when former township manager Tom Czerniecki left to become township manager in his hometown of Eastampton Township, and soon after, Cromie was appointed to the Evesham manager position permanently.
Brown said Cromie deserves a great deal of credit for the work he has done for the town, and without exception, he had helped the town be a better place to live in today than it was before he took over.
“Bill has left his mark on Evesham,” Brown said. “Sad to see him go, but I understand that 35 years is a long time to be in one place. We’re lucky to have had him.”
Brown said the township already has a few candidates in mind for Cromie’s replacement, and they hope to have another manager in place by Sept 1.
“We might actually have a couple months crossover,” Brown said. “We have to decide what we want to do that would be best for the town.”
The new township manager will have to deal with several on going projects, including the township’s attempt to assume control of Main Street and Maple Avenue from the county, the redevelopment effort, police contracts and more.
Brown said ideally Cromie could work alongside a new manager until he or she were more familiar with his or her new responsibilities.
“All these things are carried over that you’re just going to drop in the lap of the manager that hasn’t been here before,” Brown said. “I’m hopeful things work out well and we have both a new manager and Bill working side by side for a couple months.”
As for Cromie, he said after having so many responsibilities for so long, it would take some time to adjust to having so few.
However, while he said was looking forward to the chance to enjoy some time off and travel and see some of the things he may have missed over the years, he had nothing but good things to say about Evesham and the people he’ll be leaving.
“It’s a great town to live in and work in and raise my son here,” Cromie said. “My wife and I have friends and neighbors that we certainly like and appreciate, and of course the staff that I’ve worked with over all of the years have been fabulous. It’s a team that any boss would love to have.”
