BREAKING: Rye City Manager Greg Usry Announces Retirement
On the morning of Wednesday, Decmber 5, 2024, Rye City Manager Greg Usry confirmed his retirement in a letter to Mayor Josh Cohn and the rest of the City Council in a letter addressed to Rye Mayor Josh Cohn and the rest of the City Council. The letter comes hours after Usry announced his plans to step down at the Rye City Council meeting on December 4, effective in March 2025. (Usry begins his announcement at the 8:28 mark).
“This is an extraordinary community, and we are blessed. In the middle of any challenge or project it is easy to overlook accomplishments,” Usry wrote in his sendoff address. “I hope that the community will pause from time to time to look at what has been achieved these last five years. Rye is local government performing at its very best.”
Usry became Interim City Manager in October of 2019 and was promoted to the full-time role in 2021. Usry will continue to serve as City Manager until March 25, 2025, when his decision will come into effect.
“After 40 years of work, capped off by five years as Rye’s City Manager, I now look forward to retirement and new adventures,” Usry said in his letter.
During his five-year stint, Rye withstood a global pandemic, increased fire department staffing by 30%, repaved 22 lane miles of roads within the city, and more.
Mayor Cohn expressed gratitude for Usry, while also affirming that the city was prepared for this decision and has the proper resources to “keep the city’s wheels properly turning.” He also announced that a sub-committee of the City Council has already met to initiate a search for Usry’s replacement: “We know that this is one of our most important tasks and we intend to accomplish it with as little disruption and as smoothly as possible.” Bill Henderson on that committee confirmed that this would be “the most important thing we do in 2025.”
Usry has lived in Rye with his wife Mary Beth and three children for 25 years.
Find the full letter from Greg Usry to Cohn and the City Council below:
