Don Cawby, Shawnee’s city finance director, has resigned, taking a job in another Johnson County city.
He is the latest in a string of recent high-profile departures from Shawnee City Hall, including former city manager Nolan Sunderman, who is now the chief strategy officer in Olathe. Shawnee recently hired Doug Gerber to be the new permanent city manager.
More recently, city communications manager Julie Breithaupt also left and is now working in the private sector.
“This was entirely my choice and everyone at Shawnee has been nothing but gracious and supportive since my announcement,” Cawby said in an email to the Shawnee Mission Post.
He’ll be Leawood’s next finance director
- Cawby’s final day with the city of Shawnee will be Tuesday, May 2.
- He said he will start his new job in the city of Leawood on May 8.
- He declined to share his resignation letter with the Post but said he wished the city luck and told staff that he’d still be “available to answer questions as they arise” going forward.
Cawby has spent his career in local government
- Cawby came to the city of Shawnee in 2019 to serve as the finance director.
- Before that, he was the city manager in Osawatomie in Miami County, a position he held for eight years.
- He also previously served as city manager in Osage City, Kan., and Parsons, Kan.
- Additionally, Cawby worked for the Kansas state budget department and the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.
He is leaving as annual budget season begins
- Work on the budget in a municipal government tends to happen year-round but the approval process for 2024’s budget is just around the corner.
- The public part of the cycle usually begins in earnest in the late spring and stretches into the fall months with discussions and presentations in multiple city council and council committee meetings.
- Cawby said the city is “ahead of last year’s budget timeline,” with a Shawnee City Council workshop scheduled for this coming weekend.
- “The City is in good hands with regards to the budget process,” he said in an email. “Although I am the one who gets up and talks about it, the budget process is completely a team effort.”
More Shawnee City Hall news: Meet Doug Gerber, Shawnee’s new city manager
