Document text
Davis retires from city hall Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Deputy City Manager Cathie Davis retired from city service on Friday after 30 years of working for Medford. She rose through the ranks, starting out as a secretary. She'll take a year off to travel and polish her green thumb, but may consider returning to work on a city commission or run for a council seat. By JESSICA SMITH Since 1971, Cathie Davis has worked for the citizens of Medford. Now, she says, it's "play time." After 30 years as a city employee, Davis, deputy city manager, is retiring. "I don't think it's going to sink in for a while," said Davis, who leaves the city today. "This has been my life, so it's going to be a big change. "I'm ready for another phase in life." Rather than spend at least eight hours a day in her third-floor office at City Hall, Davis said this phase will include mornings in the flower beds of her southwest Medford home and traveling the United States. First on her list? A cruise on the "inside passage" to Alaska. "So there's a lot to keep me busy," she adds. Not that Davis hasn't been busy. Since she was first hired as a secretary in the planning department, Davis has tackled assignments that have given her insight into every aspect of city government. From operating reports to budgets and citizen complaints to congressional lobbyists, Davis has done it all at City Hall. "That's really what I've enjoyed about this job," Davis said. "It's always changing. Maybe that's why I lasted as long as I did." She says she's lucky because current and former city managers promoted her through the ranks, but others say luck had nothing to do with Davis' ascension. "She was a whiz," said former Mayor Al Densmore, who worked with Davis from 1977 to 1983. "She has an incredible ability to juggle hats and transition from task to task." City Manager Mike Dyal said he had Davis in mind when he created the deputy city manager position in 1998. "Cathie has been part of the gel for this organization," he said. "There's something invaluable about somebody who's been in an organization as long as she has." "Cathie is one person among a few that knows the history of the city," said Councilman Bill Moore. "She's a walking encyclopedia." Davis remembers when the city relied on electric typewriters and carbon paper, before personal computers found their way into City Hall offices. She worked with four city managers and seven mayors. She's watched Medford evolve from a town of 28,000 to a regional commercial hub with nearly 60,000 residents. Changes have come that Davis thought she'd never see - like the commercial development around the south freeway interchange and construction of the Rogue Valley Mall. And there are years-old challenges the city still faces - including the effects of growth and revitalizing downtown - that Davis said she'll continue to monitor, though from the comfort of her home. But who knows, Davis said, what the future might bring. She may eventually pull herself away from the garden long enough to sit on a city commission, or even make a run for the City Council. "But I'm going to give myself some time away from city government," she said. "I'm going to give myself a year to see how much time I really have." Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.