NEWBERRY — Newberry City Council voted last Wednesday, at a special called city council meeting, to not renew City Manager Matt DeWitt’s contract when it ends on June 30, 2023.
The motion was made by Councilperson Lemont Glasgow and seconded by Councilperson David DuBose.
DeWitt has served as Newberry’s city manager since October 2016. DeWitt began his work with the city in 2010 and has managed a variety of duties and projects.
“Matt has done much good work in Newberry and has had many accomplishments,” said Mayor Foster Senn. “Newberry City Council is appreciative. We are looking at going in a different direction.”
DeWitt said serving the city and its residents has been an honor of a lifetime.
Throughout his career with the City of Newberry, DeWitt said he felt he had made many positive contributions including the buildout of the city’s fiber network, which was the first municipal system in South Carolina, and the replacement of most of the water and sewer infrastructure in the city’s mill villages through CDBG grant funding he had obtained.
During DeWitt’s tenure, most of the city’s parks and athletic facilities saw upgrades, including the buildout of the multimillion-dollar Newberry Recreation Complex.
DeWitt said he had initiated many projects that would continue to positively benefit the city into the future, including the sale of land surrounding the Newberry Recreation site that will bring much needed housing to the city.
The sale of this land, he said, will help to fund the renovations of downtown’s Newberry Art Center (in the former Newberry Observer building) to which DeWitt said he hoped it helped to inspire creativity in the hearts of the community.
“I will continue to be here through my contract, working on behalf of Newberry citizens, to ensure that the city remains focused on delivering the best services possible to our community,” he said.