Alumni

For as long as he can remember, David Parrish has had a desire to make a difference. As town manager in Yanceyville, North Carolina, he has ample opportunity. The manager in this small community (population 2,800) also serves as town clerk, zoning officer, budget officer, personnel officer, and executive director of a women’s shelter operated by the town. “I was looking for complexity when I took this job,” says Parrish, who assumed the manager’s office in late 2007, “and I am being bathed in experience.”

When asked about useful skills he brings to the position, Parrish cites “multi-tasking.” He says it is typical for him to be on the phone with one person with someone else on hold, another person sitting in his office, and one more waiting in the hall − each needing to talk about a different topic.

Before Yanceyville, Parrish was management analyst for the City of Danville. He points out that Danville had many different departments with staff to handle specific areas. For instance, when he worked on engineering projects, he was not required to be fluent in technical terminology, since the city had its own engineer. In Yanceyville, the town hires an engineering firm, but questions and issues often fall first to Parrish.

”When an individual calls to ask about tapping into a sewer line, it’s my job to figure out the details, including prices, sizes, and regulations. It’s a challenge,” he says, “but I’m learning. The key is in understanding that I don’t have to know all the answers right away. I can get back to people.”

Adaptability has been a constant in his career. After graduating from UNC–Greensboro, Parrish joined ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens, now known as The Arc) as a job coach for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He recalls one of his first days on the job. In the morning, he worked at a warehouse with an individual who was high-functioning but needed extra job training. That night, he was at Outback Restaurant, rolling silverware with a client with Down syndrome, talking about the social challenges she was encountering at work.

“You prepare to be the best you can be, and then adapt and change as best you can. That’s a transferable skill that’s useful in my job now,” says Parrish.

When he started in Yanceyville, Parrish says he inherited “a tumultuous situation.” The former manager had left on less than positive terms, and the position had been vacant for a time. He faced major projects with quickly approaching deadlines. Parrish has worked to meet the deadlines, but also to instill confidence in the office with an open-door policy. A recently established newsletter keeps citizens informed; and he takes time to ride along with staff members when they go out on the job, so that he can be better informed as well.

“This is a good opportunity to use people skills,” Parrish says. “I’ve been a supervisor before, but there was always someone above me. Being a manager is different. Whether I’m picking a paint color for town offices or deciding the consequences when someone hasn’t paid their water bill, I feel the responsibility of that.”

It was in his second job after graduating from UNC-Greensboro, when he was recreation director for a continuing care retirement community, that Parrish realized he wanted to have more responsibility. He looked at graduate programs in public health and business, but decided that public administration would offer him the broadest education.

Parrish says that his connections with fellow students and faculty are another benefit he continually finds important. Before taking the Yanceyville position, he talked it over with several alumni who are town managers themselves. One experienced manager he hadn’t known well in the past continues to call and email, just to check on how things are going. “It’s nice to know you’ve got support,” Parrish says.

Additionally, he has found that, because so many elected officials and local employees take courses at the School of Government, he has built-in credibility as a graduate of the MPA Program. “It helps,” he says, “especially when you’re young.”

Parrish’s advice to current and future MPA students is to “soak up all you can and be open to new ideas. Make connections with School faculty and with your classmates. Embrace the community. You will value the built in network once you’re on your own.”