By Polly Mikula
David Atherton will be Killington’s new town manager, the Select Board announced at a special meeting Tuesday, March 18. The 4:30 p.m. meeting took only 14 minutes as the confirmation of Atherton new town manager and his contract signing was the only thing on the agenda.
Chair of the Select Board Jim Haff read the contract aloud in full before Ricky Bowen made the motion to approve the contract. All were in favor.
Atherton has most recently worked as town manager of Pittsford (February 2023 to February 2025) and prior to that he was the town manager for Brandon for nearly eight years. In Brandon he oversaw the Segment 6 project, a major overhaul of the road and waterlines through downtown.
Atherton said he enjoys working on large municipal infrastructure projects.
“I’m really project based,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “I love to see projects through from start to finish and although I’m coming into the Killington project a bit after the start, I’m excited to see it through to completion.”
“I can remember in my title searcher days, there was talk about things going on up there, and the lack of water was what was really holding a lot of them back. So it’s pretty cool that it’s finally happening. It’s just gonna do so much for this whole area,” he added.
Atherton will officially begin on March 25, 2025, for a contract term of five years. He will be paid a salary of $140,000.
Atherton was one of three candidates the Killington town manager search committee had recommended to the board for consideration. Two former members of the board, Chris Karr and Robert Hecker, had been involved in a months-long process of interviews prior to Town Meeting Day, but when Rick Bowen and Patrick Cushing took those places on the board after the election, the top candidates were re-interviewed. The selection of Atherton was unanimous.
Atherton currently lives in Brandon, but is contemplating a move.
“We’re looking at relocating closer. Actually, we’ve been thinking about that since I got done in Brandon,” he explained. “Probably in the Rutland City area. We used to live down there years ago, and I think it’s exciting what’s going on there now… It’s a good time to be there, I think.”
Atherton does not ski or snowboard but “used to mountain bike a lot” until a back injury three years ago. “I’m hoping this is the year I can get back into it as well. It’s been three years of not being able to do much, so it’s time.”
Interim town manager Tom Yennerell (who stepped in for the town Sept. 3 after town manager Michael Ramsey left Aug. 14) will complete his contract with the town upon Atherton’s arrival.
Atherton said he feels confident about the job and will be able to hit the ground running. “I’ve done this gig before, so there’s a lot of similarities. It’s just the little nuances that I’ll need to figure out,” he said. “The first week or so is going to just be meeting everybody and see what’s going on and then I’ll really start to dive in the following week and go from there.”
“I’m looking forward to getting things done,” he told the board Tuesday.
