Kent Holdren

My whole life revolves around water. I’m passionate about water quality. My house is on the river. I’m an avid scuba diver. I have a sailboat on Lake Michigan. I grew up water skiing. Every year, for the last five years, I’ve spent a week on a sailboat in The Bahamas. My whole life has been about water. It’s what I like to do, and it’s what I’m involved in every day.

I’ve been here 28 years. I started in the trenches –– literally. I worked my way up. The job has been great. The city has been great to me, I fell in love with the town. It still has the small town mentality, but it’s also large enough that there is a lot to do.

The employees here, working with me, are outstanding. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people. There is never a dull moment, especially with all of the construction going on. The job is constantly changing; I’m not doing one thing all the time. I hope to be here 10 more years at least. When I leave, I want to feel comfortable knowing I did the best I could do. It’s had its ups and downs, but overall, it’s been a good ride. Hopefully, we can make improvements and move forward.