Home, Sweet Home Ephrata rec director takes job in Sweet Home, Ore.

EPHRATA — Ray Towry will soon be calling Sweet Home, Ore., “home.”

The long-time Ephrata recreation director has accepted an offer to become Sweet Home’s new city manager.

“We hope to move in early November, but it depends upon when they will get me a contract,” Towry said. “I won’t formally resign until their council approves the contract.”

Sweet Home has been without a city manager since April of this year, when the city council terminated City Manager Craig Martin’s contract after 18 years, according to local news reports.

Sweet Home is a town of about 9,000 located 45 minutes northeast of Eugene, Ore.

Towry, who has been Ephrata’s recreation director for the last 13 years, said he would miss his home town, but that he was also looking forward to the challenge of managing a small city.

“Ephrata is my home. I grew up here, and I have been blessed to work with two great mayors and city councils,” he said.

He is hoping to hit the ground running in Sweet Home, though he said he understands how difficult changes like this can be. He is looking forward to working closely with Sweet Home’s interim city manager as he eases into his new job.

“Transitions are always tricky,” he said. “That’s the case for anybody.”

The key to a successful transition, especially for a new city manager, is to “build a culture that allows the organization to move forward and be effective” — something he believes he can do.

Officials in Sweet Home did not respond to the Columbia Basin Herald’s requests for comment.

“We are excited that another community sees the value in Ray that we see,” Ephrata City Manager Wes Crago said. “We won’t be happy to see him leave, but I think he’s ready.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.