Familiar Face Filling in for Patterson

By Brian Nowlin, Staff Writer
Since an announcement back in May that the Victoria Town Manager, Ken Patterson, would be stepping down from that position to deal with some health related issues, council members have been searching for the right individual to take over that job.
While the search continues for a permanent replacement for Patterson, a familiar face is now keeping things moving forward in the interim.
James “Jay” Dayton was named interim town manager by Victoria officials recently and has been working to continue the work already started by Patterson, as well as to fill in the gap until the permanent hire is made.
Mr. Dayton stated, “Kenny did a tremendous job for the town and my objective is to keep the many things he had started going and make for an easier transition once the next town manager is hired.”
Dayton is well known for having been the Chief of Police in Victoria for many years and since his retirement three years ago, he has still been involved in many of the town projects as a part time employee while helping with safety and property maintenance issues.
He continued on to say that he had worked with Patterson closely and this, along with help from Mayor Carol Watson and council members, has helped this transition.
Dayton noted that he has been a Victoria resident for forty years and this is where he and his wife have raised their kids. He stated, “I agreed to help out for now because I wanted to keep the town going forward.” He also said that he had actually hired Ken Patterson to work for the Victoria Police Department prior to him moving on to the town manager post and that the two remain close, which has also been a blessing with stepping into this new role.
Mayor Carol Watson stated, “We are pleased that Jay agreed to step into this position during this transitional period until we get someone in here on a permanent basis.”
Patterson had worked for the town for 14 years prior to his recent decision to step down and concentrate on dealing with his health issues that are Parkinson’s disease related.
He was integral in getting huge projects such as Streetscape, Safe Routes to School, water infrastructure upgrades and the Victoria Railroad Park in motion and completed. He has also been the driving force for many of the local events held in the town such as “Cowboy Days.” Patterson was described by Mayor Watson as a hands-on town manager who did a great job for the town. She stated, “He was the cream of the crop.”