City of Wausau. MWC file graphic
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The City of Wausau will search for a new Human Resources manager.
James Henderson will resign from his position on January 10th. Mayor Doug Diny says he’s taken a new job for “personal and professional” reasons. Diny says he leaves the city on good terms and in a good place.
“He’s done a great job for us. We just finished up three major union contracts, and he did a lot of heavy lifting [on those,]” said Diny. “Now he’ll be able to hand that off to somebody else.”
Diny also noted that Henderson helped bring in a new health insurance provider at a time when the city was looking at a significant increase in rates with a previous provider. “We were looking at some significant increases, and [the HR Department] came through for us. James has been a pillar in there for a number of years.”
Henderson turned in his resignation nearly two years to the day. He joined the city in December 2022 after Toni Vanderboom left the post earlier that summer. Diny says the city will fill the position by committee for now while they conduct a search, which could include using an outside consulting firm.
“We are not in an ‘urgent, rush’ scenario. Like I mentioned, a lot of the heavy lifting has been done, at least for this year with the contracts James helped negotiate. I’d say we would like to [have someone in place] by the spring, summer for sure,” said Diny. “Wausau is the 16th largest city in the state. We should be able to attract top talent.”
Diny plans to have the job posted in the next few days. The City Council did not vote on a measure that would have allowed for the hiring of a search firm on Tuesday. Both the HR and Finance Committees said they’d like to see more information before moving forward with a budget modification for that item.
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