Two longtime city employees take on new roles
Sep 10, 2024 12:44PM ● By Mimi Darley Dutton
Kellie Challburg and Mike Barker, both of whom started working for Draper City in 2015, were appointed to new jobs in July. Challburg is Assistant City Manager and Barker is Acting City Manager in addition to City Attorney. “It brings me great joy to approve these,” Draper City Councilmember Mike Green said when the council voted to appoint them to their new positions. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)
Two familiar faces have assumed new roles with Draper City. At the July 2 Draper City Council meeting, Kellie Challburg was sworn in as Assistant City Manager and Mike Barker took the oath to be Acting City Manager. Both have worked for Draper City since 2015.
“We are definitely fortunate to have such talented people in the wings for us as a city. Thank you both for being willing to do what is not an easy job. We appreciate your service,” Mayor Troy Walker said.
Challburg began her career with Draper as Executive Assistant to the Mayor, City Manager and council. Prior to that, she worked in Human Resources for Cottonwood Heights City and then for Murray City as an assistant to the city council. “I was sad to leave both cities, but this position came up and I know Mayor Walker from high school…I knew he would be great to work with and it’s been a great place to be,” she said.
In her time with Draper City, Challburg has continually taken on more duties. She’s been an advisor to the Youth Council and liaison to the Diversity committee, chair for Women in Business for the South Valley Chamber and chair of the Gold Star Families Memorial committee. She’s done grant writing including one that resulted in electric vehicle chargers in front of City Hall. She’s also worked with David Wilks, Community Events Manager, to plan and implement all activities associated with Draper Days. “I love that the community embraces events. We put on great events, people show up, and it makes it all worth it,” she said.
In early 2021, the city named Challburg Chief of Staff, a position that hadn’t previously existed. “They kept giving me more responsibilities, so it morphed into a position,” she said.
For Challburg, the best part of the job is the ability to be of help to people. “That’s what makes me happy, when I can help somebody out,” she said.
“One thing’s for sure, Kellie is a person who gets things done,” Walker said.
There’s some learning she’ll do need to do, specifically planning, zoning, and land use. “My biggest challenge is getting up to speed on that,” she said. She’ll also be overseeing risk management and facilities for the city, but she said she likes to learn. “There’s some work ahead. It will stretch me and all of us,” Challburg said.
Like Challburg, Barker welcomes the challenge of learning new things and he’s enjoying the opportunity to try his hand at the city manager role. “In some ways it’s invigorating. It’s a lot of work, but sometimes a change is as good as a rest,” he said.
Barker is now balancing two big jobs, that of City Attorney as well as Acting City Manager. “It means longer days. I get here earlier to take advantage of that quiet time and I stay later for the same reason. People ask me how I do both at the same time. It’s a Venn diagram. There’s a significant portion in the middle where there’s quite a bit of overlap between the two roles,” he said. He credits Assistant City Attorney Spencer DuShane for also taking on more work since it’s just the two of them in the city’s legal department.
Barker was hired by Draper as City Attorney. He began his law career as a prosecutor for Orem City and eventually became Assistant City Attorney there. After Orem, he worked as Chief Legal Counsel for Unified Police Department from 2009 until coming to Draper in 2015. “I’ve enjoyed my association with law enforcement-training and advising on constitutional issues and how to serve the community within the bounds of the constitution,” he said.
Less than two months into the new job, Barker said he’s attending a lot of meetings and has found that he’s often the final decision maker. “What I’m finding I like about it is there are opportunities to be creative that aren’t present from the legal side. I enjoy the problems solving. I enjoy interacting with residents to address their issues. I enjoy interacting with the mayor and council and trying to fulfill their vision for the city,” he said.
Barker will proceed in the two roles for now. “It’s up to the council if it’s a permanent appointment or if they’ll start looking for another city manager to fill the role,” he said.
Challburg grew up in Sandy and graduated from BYU where she studied International Relations and Spanish. She and her husband have four children ranging in age from 15-29.
Barker hails from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He came to the United States with his wife to attend college and has lived in Utah County ever since. He has a BS in Geography and a Juris Doctorate, both from BYU. For a period of time he studied city planning in college, but he realized law appealed to him “…because of the breadth of the discipline,” Barker said. He and his wife have three children, two sons who reside in Utah and a daughter living in Alberta.
Barker and Challburg agree on an optimistic outlook for the city. “I think the community has a great feel to it and we should try to always keep that feel. Draper has an amazing, bright future,” Challburg said. “We’ve got a lot of very good employees who care deeply about doing the right thing and helping Draper as a city grow and prosper, the residents and the businesses. We’ve got an excellent mayor and council who want the best for the city. It’s a nice collaboration to have a positive influence in the community,” Barker said.
There is one potential point of contention between the new Assistant City Manager and Acting City Manager, but thankfully it’s not about city business. It’s a matter of college sports loyalty. Both Challburg and Barker are BYU graduates, but she’s had a change of heart in recent years. “My kids have all gone to the U, so now I cheer for the U,” Challburg said with a smile. λ