By Woodrow Polston
Vandalia city employee Terry Waters was recently promoted to the position of administrative assistant at city hall. After serving on the utility and street departments for 12 years, he has been working on getting settled into his new office role for the past several weeks. Waters said that it is a big change from his last position.
“It is a big change from what I am used to doing,” said Waters. “I have transitioned from a lot of physical work to sitting at a desk working on a computer and filing paperwork. But I am certainly liking it though, and enjoying the new challenges. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to expand my experience here with the city,” he added.
Waters said that he has slightly changed his daily routine and despite working an hour later in the day in his new position, he has been waking up earlier to start his day. He added that he has been blessed to work with some amazing people in Vandalia.
“I have been blessed to work with amazing people. I started out in the utilities department where I got to work under the guidance of Aaron rentfro and alongside some great coworkers for about six years. After that I transferred to the street department where I worked under the supervision of Leroy Schlueter and alongside another set of great guys. Where I am now at city hall, I am looking forward to being an asset to another amazing team of people and I am very thankful to be here at city hall,” said Waters.
One of the job duties of the administrative assistant is to oversee the operations of the city pool, including interviewing potential lifeguards and ordering supplies and materials for the pool. Waters has also been fulfilling some of the duties of the part time office assistant position, which is currently open at city hall. City Administrator Darren Berry said that Waters is doing a good job for the city.
“He is doing a fine job in his new position,” said Berry. “He interviewed for this job the last time that it was open but unfortunately, we had another candidate who was selected to fill the position at that time. Terry has proven himself in the utility department and the street department as a valuable employee. There is no doubt that he will do the same here in this position,” he added.
Waters is a life-long resident of Vandalia and a 2008 graduate of Van-Far High School.