York Haverkamp starts as Waitsfield’s town administrator next Monday, February 10. Haverkamp and his family are relocating to Vermont from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Haverkamp steps in at a time when the town has been without an administrator since May when former administrator Annie Decker-Dell’Isola left.
The Waitsfield Select Board offered Haverkamp the job this week after a Zoom and in-person interview and board member Brian Shupe said the board is excited to have him start and that he is a great fit.
He brings experience in public administration, policy development and local government and has served in municipal government as a former vice-mayor of Norris, Tennessee. Additionally, he worked extensively with the National League of Cities in Minnesota and Arkansas.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
He has a master's degree in public administration and policy from American University, a bachelor of human studies degree from Warren Wilson College and a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School for senior executives in state and local government.
Haverkamp is from upstate New York and his partner is from Connecticut. She attended Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont, and they met in Alaska.
“She is a huge lover of Vermont. We all love Vermont and New England,” he said.
Haverkamp was in Boston this summer while his family was in Canada and their trip to come visit him led them through Vermont and The Valley.
WARREN FALLS
“They came through Waitsfield and had dinner at the Mad Taco and jumped in Warren Falls. Our son, Noam, said it was the best place on the East Cjoast,” Haverkamp said.
Haverkamp said he was at a National League of Cities conference in DC last year when a colleague asked him why he was not a town administrator.
“I thought about it and thought it would be something I’d love and that I could thrive at,” he said.
He started looking in Maine and Vermont this fall and after learning about the job in Waitsfield he began learning about it and thought it would be a good fit.
ON THE PRECIPICE
“Everything about the town, everything going on in Waitsfield and the Mad River Valley is really exciting and on the precipice of being a really exciting next 10 years,” he said.
Haverkamp said he loves small towns and Waitsfield fits that bill. He will drive from Tennessee to Vermont next weekend to start work. His family will follow after the school year ends and they find housing.
Haverkamp and his partner Erin Rose have four children, one starting 11th grade next fall, two in college and one going into college next fall. Their daughter Opal is a senior in high school and their son starts 11th grade next fall. Their daughter Fern is in college and may move to Vermont with the family while their daughter Baylan is in college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Rose runs Three3 (pronounced ThreeCubed) a research nonprofit with a mission to foster equitable and sustainable futures.
