Dennis Pavlicek, who has served as the Town of Newbury’s Town Administrator since 1995, recently retired following 30 plus years of local government service.
Dennis became town administrator in 1995 following a time of tragedy and turmoil. In 1993, a disgruntled taxpayer opened fire in the Newbury Town Hall, killing two female town employees, before eventually dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Former Newbury town administrator, Carol Hockmeyer, was also severely injured. The perpetrator, John Albro, the son of a Newbury selectman, had a reported longtime feud with the town.
For the next six months after the incident, Pavlicek, who was working with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) in Concord, and multiple other DRA employees, were charged with working at the Newbury town offices while they were trying to get back on their feet. After months of support and staff reconstruction, the town eventually recovered and Pavlicek went back to his old DRA position. However, there were rumblings that the town administrator position would be opening up. Sure enough, it did and Pavlicek applied immediately. The rest is now history. Pavlicek got the job! Fast forward many years later and one can see that Dennis was the right person at the right time for this difficult challenge.
A major achievement during Pavlicek’s tenure was the planning and development of Center Newbury as the civic center of the community. Pavlicek guided the development of sidewalks in this section of the community which has increased pedestrian access and personal interactions.
Conceptual drawing of “Center Newbury” from 2017 Master Plan
According to the Town’s 2017 Master Plan, “At times, Newbury residents and property owners have reported feeling disconnected. This may be a factor of the topography and development patterns of Newbury which have created numerous small neighborhoods that are not easily interconnected and remain relatively isolated. In recent years, strides have been made towards developing a stronger sense of community. These efforts have focused on making Newbury Center more of a focal point for community services and facilities and communicating through a town newsletter and website. An updated and expanded town website has been developed to serve the community and aid communication and engagement efforts in Newbury.”
Improvements in Center Newbury include the Veterans Memorial, Veterans Hall, the Playground, the restoration of Center Meeting House, the Caboose & Information Center in Bell Cove, acquisition of additional land and expansion of the town beach, improvements to the town Docks, acquisition of the former and refurbished railroad station, and acquisition of the Bald Sunapee and Camacho properties all contribute to making Center Newbury more of a focal point for the community.
Dennis was lucky to have the strong support of his staff. Dennis’s leadership style was one of delegating responsibilities to his staff and employees as he recognized early in his career that they are the backbone of delivering community services.
According to Pam Bryk, administrative assistant who has served under Dennis for over 11years, “Dennis has always put the needs of the Newbury residents first. He strives to keep our tax rate low. As a boss, Dennis is very considerate and funny. One thing you might not know about Dennis is that he is very funny. He has quite the sense of humor!”
Another one of Pavlicek’s milestone achievements was starting the town’s Old Home Day in 2005, an event that has seen significant growth over the years. The summer event now features everything from street performers to circus groups to food trucks, and routinely attracts hundreds of residents every year to celebrate the town’s history and beauty. The highlight of the event is the fireworks show on Lake Sunapee, which attracts more than 1,000 residents yearly.
Left, Dennis with the delegation from the Town of New London, Town Administrator Kim Halquist and Select Board Chair, Janet Kidder, at his recent August 2nd retirement party.
Pavlicek also played an important leadership role in NHMA’s history and served on the Local Government Center’s (LGC) Board of Directors from 2005 to 2013. In 2013, the LGC and its affiliated entities, HealthTrust, Property & Liability Trust (PLT), and NHMA, were organizationally restructured. Dennis went on the serve on the PLT’s Board of Directors before this entity was finally dissolved in 2016.
Every year, Dennis was always among the first members, if not the first, to register for our Annual Conference and Exhibition. But Dennis did more than that, he would close down the Newbury town offices for the day so that staff employees could travel to Manchester and participate in a full day of education, training and networking.
After his retirement in August, Dennis hopes to move somewhere to North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains and live out his last years enjoying the beauty of these ancient mountains. Best of luck to you, Dennis, and thank you for your years of service and dedication to the betterment of municipal government in the Town of Newbury and the State of New Hampshire.