June 8, 2026 • 11 mins
Walker is growing quickly, and growth has a way of turning “city hall” into something personal. We’re joined by Shay Gallagher, the new City Manager for the City of Walker, Michigan, to talk about what the job actually demands and why Walker’s stability and momentum made the opportunity impossible to pass up. Shay shares where he’s from, how his career path led through other communities, and what he learned before stepping into this role.
We also break down the city manager role in plain English: the mayor and city commission set the direction, and the city manager leads the staff that delivers the work. That includes the unglamorous but essential parts of local government like roads, finance, water and sewer, labor issues, and the daily coordination that keeps services running. Shay explains why strong department leaders matter and how he balances staying informed with letting experts do their jobs.
Public safety becomes the heart of the conversation as we talk about the city’s push to modernize fire services toward a 24/7 fire department, building on Fire Chief Rusty Shoultz's vision after a heartbreaking loss. We dig into what it takes to fund and sustain that shift, what station upgrades might be needed, and how improved fire protection can influence an ISO rating that may lower insurance costs for both residents and businesses. We also look ahead to strategic planning, trail connectivity, the new library opening, and the opportunities and challenges tied to future road funding.
If you care about how Walker makes decisions as it grows, this is a must-listen. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review with the topic you want us to tackle next.
If you have comments about this podcast, or ideas for future episodes, please email us at PODCAST@WALKER.CITY
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nicole DiDonato (00:03):
Welcome to the Made in Walker Podcast.
It's the podcast that connectsyou to the people, the stories,
and the ideas shaping ourcommunity.
From local innovators toeveryday change makers, we're
diving deep into what makesWalker a great place to live,
work, and grow.
Now here's your host, SteveKelso.
Steve Kelso (00:24):
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Made
and Walker Podcast.
If you've been watching thispodcast for any length of time
at all, you know that there is anew city manager in town.
And joining me today, ShayGallagher.
Welcome, welcome to thepodcast.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me today.
You came in February, March?
March 5th was my official startdate.
(00:45):
Tell me a little bit aboutwhere you were from, how you
ended up in Walker.
Shay Gallagher (00:49):
Yeah, so originally grew up in a small
community north of Traverse Citycalled Elk Rapids.
After that, I came down toGrand Valley where I did my
master's and undergraduate.
My master's was in politicalscience.
From there, I bounced around toa few small communities, most
recently in the city of Kentwoodbefore coming over to Walker.
Steve Kelso (01:07):
You uh at some point in your career, you hear
about Walker, you hear thatthere's an opening there.
What kind of uh what how didhow did all that formulate for
you?
How what would you startthinking at that point?
Shay Gallagher (01:18):
Yeah, so I wasn't really looking for
anything in particular.
I was very happy with the cityof Kentwood and, you know, the
folks that I work with.
But um, in knowing Daryl andknowing Gary the mayor, um,
knowing Walker's got a historyof being very stable and um a
community that's growingexponentially with a lot of
great opportunities ahead of it,it was something that I really,
really wanted to go for andsomething I couldn't pass up.
Steve Kelso (01:40):
We hear the um we hear the term city manager a lot
and strong mayor, weak mayor,how different commissions are
made up.
Tell me what the city managerdoes in as plain a language as
you can tell the folks at home.
Shay Gallagher (01:55):
Absolutely.
So basically I run all of theday-to-day operations of the
city.
So the city council and themayor kind of set the direction
of where they'd like thecommunity to go, and then I go
out with the staff and executethat direction.
So I oversee everything fromroads, um, finance, water,
sewer, police, fire.
I'm over all of that and thenanswer directly to the
commission.
Steve Kelso (02:14):
So all of the details fall to your desk.
Shay Gallagher (02:16):
Absolutely.
Steve Kelso (02:17):
So when it's time to build a road or negotiate a
labor contract with one withyour employee, your represented
employees, that all ends up onyour desk.
Either that or I delegate toour awesome department heads to
handle things.
Shay Gallagher (02:29):
So, you know, as far as roads, you know, I'm
kept in the loop, but I reallylet Scott Conders and the
engineering team run with that.
Um, they're equipped and theyare the uh the experts in the
field on that.
But yeah.
Steve Kelso (02:39):
I would imagine that you have to because there's
so many different areas ofexpertise, right?
Absolutely.
Um so you're what, four or fivemonths in now?
No, not even three.
Three months in.
What would you, you know, wealways hear the the president
always talks about his first 100days.
What what would you like toaccomplish in that first six, 12
(03:00):
months, 100 days?
Shay Gallagher (03:01):
Yes.
Um, obviously that changed uhwith the passing of Chief
Shoultz.
Um, it kind of uh threw alittle bit of a monkey wretch
into things.
So right now, given that, Ikind of transitioned to
overseeing putting more time andenergy into police and fire and
making sure that those arewhere we need them to be.
Kind of looking at ChiefShoultz's goal and mission for
modernizing our fire departmentto turn it into a 24-7
(03:24):
department.
So we're really looking at howdo we continue that and build
off that.
So um, police and fire arenumber one coming in uh in
March.
Draft one of the budget wasalready presented to the finance
committee.
So really understanding whatthe budgetary conditions were,
where draft one was, and thenlooking at where we need to go,
how do we get that to be afinalized budget by July 1?
Steve Kelso (03:44):
Public safety, becoming a 24-7 fire department
has been something that thecitizens really kind of directed
the mayor and commission to do.
And now, Mrs.
Lacking Rusty's direction, ahorrible, tragic loss that the
city has suffered.
Uh, how do you go about that?
And I mean, a lot of the stuffhe had kind of laid out, you
(04:07):
continue to follow that path,you have a job opening to fill.
Shay Gallagher (04:11):
Absolutely, yeah.
So both.
We're going to continuefollowing that direction that
Rusty laid out.
Chief Mangles stepped in as ourinterim fire chief, so he's
directing both police and fire.
Um, but we'll also uh look atwhat needs to be done to
continue that effort.
Um, our fire fire stations needto be modernized.
There are no sleeping quartersin there and things like that.
(04:31):
So so it's really building onthat legacy that Rusty left
behind.
Steve Kelso (04:35):
And you have a balancing act then to for for
the good and great citizens ofWalker who have asked for this,
and you now need to provide it,but you also need to balance
that uh uh that that thatstewardship of the taxpayer
dollar as well.
Shay Gallagher (04:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's what we're looking atright now.
Um myself, the financedirector, um, the the commission
and our department heads arereally scrutinized scrutinizing
the budget to figure out how wefund um the fire department so
that we can maintain that 24-7fire department model.
Um it's something that the cityneeds, and it's probably
something that should havehappened years ago.
Steve Kelso (05:14):
Probably so, because your your growth in
Walker has been, as you said,exponential, but you have new
factories and facilities all thetime in there that demand
increased fire protection.
Absolutely, yeah.
And I would think that that isimportant when you go to when
you when you go to outsidegroups and try to lure new
businesses into the city ofWalker, you probably are hearing
(05:37):
that concern from them as well.
Shay Gallagher (05:39):
That, yeah, and there's a thing called the ISO,
so it's the rating thatcommunities get um for their
level of fire protection andsafety.
So as we add staffing, as we'reable to staff all three
department or stationsfull-time, our ISO rating goes
down.
That equates to money saved byboth the businesses and the
residents because you see areduction in your insurance
(05:59):
costs for your home or yourbusiness.
Steve Kelso (06:01):
And that ISO is probably a metric that they use
to do due diligence when itcomes time to locate or not
locate somewhere.
Part of it, yeah.
I would believe so.
What do you think are the otherstrong things that have really
attracted so much business tothe Walker corridor?
Shay Gallagher (06:15):
I think geographically we're we're
located in such an excellentposition.
You know, we've got major stateand highway trunk lines around
us, we're adjacent to GrandRapids without Grand Rapids
congestion, we're a growingpopulation, we're we're doing
the place-making things, youknow, our concerts in the park
and things that the culturalaspects that residents want to
take part in.
So it it truly becomes a placeto live, work, and play.
Steve Kelso (06:40):
Um, obviously, if you've watched this podcast
before getting come on, did youwatch the podcast before?
All right, good.
Absolutely.
Um the whole reason this showexists is to engage residents.
How do you uh how do you preferto hear from from citizenry?
What what's the what's the bestroute to get to you?
Shay Gallagher (06:59):
Absolutely.
I'm an open book and I have anopen door, so I welcome citizen
feedback at any time.
Um I can be reached by phone,email, stop into the office.
I I also like to go out tocommunity events to make sure
that I'm in the community,hearing from the residents.
My whole philosophy is meet theresidents where they're at, you
know, meeting them wherethey're at to understand the
issues or concerns that theyhave.
Steve Kelso (07:20):
You uh kind of new to the area?
What what might I find you outwalking around doing on a
Saturday afternoon?
Shay Gallagher (07:29):
Um hopefully in a few years, it's teaching my
daughter to ice skate and maybegetting in to learn to play in
the you know in the Hawksprogram.
Growing up, you know, I'veplayed hockey since I was four,
so the with it being right nextto City Hall is an amazing
opportunity for us.
Um, but it's also getting outand joining the trails, um,
getting into Standale, all ofthose kind of things.
Steve Kelso (07:48):
We see that trail network exploding and connecting
with all of the othermunicipalities.
Uh the work that was done onthe Fruit Roach Bridge, going to
connect all that.
What are you hearing from folksabout about that?
Then excitement building.
Shay Gallagher (08:01):
Yeah, it's it's an asset to the community.
We just met with the GreenwayInitiative Group to figure out
how do we create betterconnectivity, understanding the
backbone that count the KentCounty's working on creating,
and then all the offshoots thatcome off to that.
That way we just create a astronger trail network within
the community.
Yeah, absolutely.
Steve Kelso (08:20):
What else excites you?
What else is out there?
You're you're month 13 now.
Shay Gallagher (08:24):
What are you gonna dig into it's going to
looking at where the city's atnow and then where we want it to
be.
So maybe doing some strategicplanning, understanding what are
the needs going to be in thecommunity in one, three, five,
seven years, and looking atwhether that's staffing, whether
it's locating police and firein different spots, um,
(08:45):
understanding how we need to bebetter stewards of the taxpayer
dollars and what we need to doto make sure that we're
protecting those dollars.
Steve Kelso (08:53):
When you look at things on the horizon, would do
you have you identified maybenot only opportunities, but may
where there might be snags inWalker's future.
Shay Gallagher (09:03):
Yeah, I think so.
Uh opportunities are going tobe the library.
Um, that's going to be awesome.
It's going to open later thisfall.
So that'll be an amazingcommunity asset.
The influx of road dollars thatLansing has promised, that is a
something that's going to be anopportunity and a challenge, I
think, for the community.
Um, if those dollars trulymaterialize in the amount that
they promised, um, we'll be ableto fix a lot of great roads
(09:25):
within the community.
But I wonder if that'll be achallenge.
Will costs increase because allof the communities around us
are also seeing those influx ofdollars.
And are there enoughcontractors and workers out
there to get that done withoutdriving costs up?
Steve Kelso (09:39):
And while that typically happens, Walker stands
with a um with a history ofbeing able to keep the Fruit
Ridge Bridge project at fundedlevel and to completion.
That had to be that was a veryproud moment.
Shay Gallagher (09:53):
It was, and that was a great help with our
community partners, um, folks inLansing providing dollars for
that.
It also helps we're a customercommunity of the city of Grand
Rapids for utilities, so wedon't necessarily have to worry
about funding the undergroundutilities that falls on Grand
Rapids.
So we just make sure that wemaintain the roadways.
Steve Kelso (10:11):
And Mary Gary Carey likes to say we we did
that the Walker way.
And I would imagine that's partof why you're here, and that's
something you'd like tocontinue.
Absolutely.
100%.
Shay Gallagher (10:21):
Carry on that legacy and continue to create a
strong community and place wherepeople want to live.
Steve Kelso (10:26):
All right, very good.
Thanks for joining us today.
He again is the new citymanager for the City of Walker,
Shea Gallagher.
If you like this podcast,please continue to tune in.
Make sure you hit the like andsubscribe and share it with your
friends.
We'll be back next time withanother edition of the Maiden
Walker Podcast.
Nicole DiDonato (10:44):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of
the Maiden Walker Podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have ideas for futureepisodes, we would love to hear
from you.
Please send us an email topodcast at walker.city.
Maiden Walker is the officialpodcast for the City of Walker,
Michigan.
(11:04):
You can find Maiden Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to the Made in Walker Podcast.
It's the podcast that connectsyou to the people, the stories,
and the ideas shaping ourcommunity.
From local innovators toeveryday change makers, we're
diving deep into what makesWalker a great place to live,
work, and grow.
Now here's your host, SteveKelso.
Steve Kelso (00:24):
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Made
and Walker Podcast.
If you've been watching thispodcast for any length of time
at all, you know that there is anew city manager in town.
And joining me today, ShayGallagher.
Welcome, welcome to thepodcast.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me today.
You came in February, March?
March 5th was my official startdate.
(00:45):
Tell me a little bit aboutwhere you were from, how you
ended up in Walker.
Shay Gallagher (00:49):
Yeah, so originally grew up in a small
community north of Traverse Citycalled Elk Rapids.
After that, I came down toGrand Valley where I did my
master's and undergraduate.
My master's was in politicalscience.
From there, I bounced around toa few small communities, most
recently in the city of Kentwoodbefore coming over to Walker.
Steve Kelso (01:07):
You uh at some point in your career, you hear
about Walker, you hear thatthere's an opening there.
What kind of uh what how didhow did all that formulate for
you?
How what would you startthinking at that point?
Shay Gallagher (01:18):
Yeah, so I wasn't really looking for
anything in particular.
I was very happy with the cityof Kentwood and, you know, the
folks that I work with.
But um, in knowing Daryl andknowing Gary the mayor, um,
knowing Walker's got a historyof being very stable and um a
community that's growingexponentially with a lot of
great opportunities ahead of it,it was something that I really,
really wanted to go for andsomething I couldn't pass up.
Steve Kelso (01:40):
We hear the um we hear the term city manager a lot
and strong mayor, weak mayor,how different commissions are
made up.
Tell me what the city managerdoes in as plain a language as
you can tell the folks at home.
Shay Gallagher (01:55):
Absolutely.
So basically I run all of theday-to-day operations of the
city.
So the city council and themayor kind of set the direction
of where they'd like thecommunity to go, and then I go
out with the staff and executethat direction.
So I oversee everything fromroads, um, finance, water,
sewer, police, fire.
I'm over all of that and thenanswer directly to the
commission.
Steve Kelso (02:14):
So all of the details fall to your desk.
Shay Gallagher (02:16):
Absolutely.
Steve Kelso (02:17):
So when it's time to build a road or negotiate a
labor contract with one withyour employee, your represented
employees, that all ends up onyour desk.
Either that or I delegate toour awesome department heads to
handle things.
Shay Gallagher (02:29):
So, you know, as far as roads, you know, I'm
kept in the loop, but I reallylet Scott Conders and the
engineering team run with that.
Um, they're equipped and theyare the uh the experts in the
field on that.
But yeah.
Steve Kelso (02:39):
I would imagine that you have to because there's
so many different areas ofexpertise, right?
Absolutely.
Um so you're what, four or fivemonths in now?
No, not even three.
Three months in.
What would you, you know, wealways hear the the president
always talks about his first 100days.
What what would you like toaccomplish in that first six, 12
(03:00):
months, 100 days?
Shay Gallagher (03:01):
Yes.
Um, obviously that changed uhwith the passing of Chief
Shoultz.
Um, it kind of uh threw alittle bit of a monkey wretch
into things.
So right now, given that, Ikind of transitioned to
overseeing putting more time andenergy into police and fire and
making sure that those arewhere we need them to be.
Kind of looking at ChiefShoultz's goal and mission for
modernizing our fire departmentto turn it into a 24-7
(03:24):
department.
So we're really looking at howdo we continue that and build
off that.
So um, police and fire arenumber one coming in uh in
March.
Draft one of the budget wasalready presented to the finance
committee.
So really understanding whatthe budgetary conditions were,
where draft one was, and thenlooking at where we need to go,
how do we get that to be afinalized budget by July 1?
Steve Kelso (03:44):
Public safety, becoming a 24-7 fire department
has been something that thecitizens really kind of directed
the mayor and commission to do.
And now, Mrs.
Lacking Rusty's direction, ahorrible, tragic loss that the
city has suffered.
Uh, how do you go about that?
And I mean, a lot of the stuffhe had kind of laid out, you
(04:07):
continue to follow that path,you have a job opening to fill.
Shay Gallagher (04:11):
Absolutely, yeah.
So both.
We're going to continuefollowing that direction that
Rusty laid out.
Chief Mangles stepped in as ourinterim fire chief, so he's
directing both police and fire.
Um, but we'll also uh look atwhat needs to be done to
continue that effort.
Um, our fire fire stations needto be modernized.
There are no sleeping quartersin there and things like that.
(04:31):
So so it's really building onthat legacy that Rusty left
behind.
Steve Kelso (04:35):
And you have a balancing act then to for for
the good and great citizens ofWalker who have asked for this,
and you now need to provide it,but you also need to balance
that uh uh that that thatstewardship of the taxpayer
dollar as well.
Shay Gallagher (04:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's what we're looking atright now.
Um myself, the financedirector, um, the the commission
and our department heads arereally scrutinized scrutinizing
the budget to figure out how wefund um the fire department so
that we can maintain that 24-7fire department model.
Um it's something that the cityneeds, and it's probably
something that should havehappened years ago.
Steve Kelso (05:14):
Probably so, because your your growth in
Walker has been, as you said,exponential, but you have new
factories and facilities all thetime in there that demand
increased fire protection.
Absolutely, yeah.
And I would think that that isimportant when you go to when
you when you go to outsidegroups and try to lure new
businesses into the city ofWalker, you probably are hearing
(05:37):
that concern from them as well.
Shay Gallagher (05:39):
That, yeah, and there's a thing called the ISO,
so it's the rating thatcommunities get um for their
level of fire protection andsafety.
So as we add staffing, as we'reable to staff all three
department or stationsfull-time, our ISO rating goes
down.
That equates to money saved byboth the businesses and the
residents because you see areduction in your insurance
(05:59):
costs for your home or yourbusiness.
Steve Kelso (06:01):
And that ISO is probably a metric that they use
to do due diligence when itcomes time to locate or not
locate somewhere.
Part of it, yeah.
I would believe so.
What do you think are the otherstrong things that have really
attracted so much business tothe Walker corridor?
Shay Gallagher (06:15):
I think geographically we're we're
located in such an excellentposition.
You know, we've got major stateand highway trunk lines around
us, we're adjacent to GrandRapids without Grand Rapids
congestion, we're a growingpopulation, we're we're doing
the place-making things, youknow, our concerts in the park
and things that the culturalaspects that residents want to
take part in.
So it it truly becomes a placeto live, work, and play.
Steve Kelso (06:40):
Um, obviously, if you've watched this podcast
before getting come on, did youwatch the podcast before?
All right, good.
Absolutely.
Um the whole reason this showexists is to engage residents.
How do you uh how do you preferto hear from from citizenry?
What what's the what's the bestroute to get to you?
Shay Gallagher (06:59):
Absolutely.
I'm an open book and I have anopen door, so I welcome citizen
feedback at any time.
Um I can be reached by phone,email, stop into the office.
I I also like to go out tocommunity events to make sure
that I'm in the community,hearing from the residents.
My whole philosophy is meet theresidents where they're at, you
know, meeting them wherethey're at to understand the
issues or concerns that theyhave.
Steve Kelso (07:20):
You uh kind of new to the area?
What what might I find you outwalking around doing on a
Saturday afternoon?
Shay Gallagher (07:29):
Um hopefully in a few years, it's teaching my
daughter to ice skate and maybegetting in to learn to play in
the you know in the Hawksprogram.
Growing up, you know, I'veplayed hockey since I was four,
so the with it being right nextto City Hall is an amazing
opportunity for us.
Um, but it's also getting outand joining the trails, um,
getting into Standale, all ofthose kind of things.
Steve Kelso (07:48):
We see that trail network exploding and connecting
with all of the othermunicipalities.
Uh the work that was done onthe Fruit Roach Bridge, going to
connect all that.
What are you hearing from folksabout about that?
Then excitement building.
Shay Gallagher (08:01):
Yeah, it's it's an asset to the community.
We just met with the GreenwayInitiative Group to figure out
how do we create betterconnectivity, understanding the
backbone that count the KentCounty's working on creating,
and then all the offshoots thatcome off to that.
That way we just create a astronger trail network within
the community.
Yeah, absolutely.
Steve Kelso (08:20):
What else excites you?
What else is out there?
You're you're month 13 now.
Shay Gallagher (08:24):
What are you gonna dig into it's going to
looking at where the city's atnow and then where we want it to
be.
So maybe doing some strategicplanning, understanding what are
the needs going to be in thecommunity in one, three, five,
seven years, and looking atwhether that's staffing, whether
it's locating police and firein different spots, um,
(08:45):
understanding how we need to bebetter stewards of the taxpayer
dollars and what we need to doto make sure that we're
protecting those dollars.
Steve Kelso (08:53):
When you look at things on the horizon, would do
you have you identified maybenot only opportunities, but may
where there might be snags inWalker's future.
Shay Gallagher (09:03):
Yeah, I think so.
Uh opportunities are going tobe the library.
Um, that's going to be awesome.
It's going to open later thisfall.
So that'll be an amazingcommunity asset.
The influx of road dollars thatLansing has promised, that is a
something that's going to be anopportunity and a challenge, I
think, for the community.
Um, if those dollars trulymaterialize in the amount that
they promised, um, we'll be ableto fix a lot of great roads
(09:25):
within the community.
But I wonder if that'll be achallenge.
Will costs increase because allof the communities around us
are also seeing those influx ofdollars.
And are there enoughcontractors and workers out
there to get that done withoutdriving costs up?
Steve Kelso (09:39):
And while that typically happens, Walker stands
with a um with a history ofbeing able to keep the Fruit
Ridge Bridge project at fundedlevel and to completion.
That had to be that was a veryproud moment.
Shay Gallagher (09:53):
It was, and that was a great help with our
community partners, um, folks inLansing providing dollars for
that.
It also helps we're a customercommunity of the city of Grand
Rapids for utilities, so wedon't necessarily have to worry
about funding the undergroundutilities that falls on Grand
Rapids.
So we just make sure that wemaintain the roadways.
Steve Kelso (10:11):
And Mary Gary Carey likes to say we we did
that the Walker way.
And I would imagine that's partof why you're here, and that's
something you'd like tocontinue.
Absolutely.
100%.
Shay Gallagher (10:21):
Carry on that legacy and continue to create a
strong community and place wherepeople want to live.
Steve Kelso (10:26):
All right, very good.
Thanks for joining us today.
He again is the new citymanager for the City of Walker,
Shea Gallagher.
If you like this podcast,please continue to tune in.
Make sure you hit the like andsubscribe and share it with your
friends.
We'll be back next time withanother edition of the Maiden
Walker Podcast.
Nicole DiDonato (10:44):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of
the Maiden Walker Podcast.
If you have comments orquestions about this podcast, or
if you have ideas for futureepisodes, we would love to hear
from you.
Please send us an email topodcast at walker.city.
Maiden Walker is the officialpodcast for the City of Walker,
Michigan.
(11:04):
You can find Maiden Walkerwherever you get your podcasts.
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