After 28 years in public service, the City of Shawnee’s human resources director has retired. Having watched Shawnee grow for almost three decades, Liz Barnard said she’s proud of her time in the city. “It was just a treat to serve the City of Shawnee for so many years,” she said. In Barnard’s tenure, she said she worked with four mayors, 46 councilmembers and more than 500 employees. It all went by in a blur, she said. “They say the days are long, but the years are short or something like that,” she said. “It’s true.” She also said she saw the city expand and evolve. “When I started, we didn’t have Splash Cove. We didn’t have Station 74. We didn’t have the Justice Center,” she said. “Anything west of Pflumm was basically just houses. There was no commercial development. So it’s just been so cool to see the different things that have been accomplished, in large part, to the amazing staff that was there.” Barnard was involved with projects that include the first Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, the Veterans Day celebration and helping lead the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Source: Johnson County Post
