High Five with Fred Presley: The Whistleblower Who Came Back
A city manager’s journey through conflict, burnout, and reinvention—and the lessons he’s carrying forward in Wethersfield, Connecticut
Welcome back to High Five: Conversation with a City Manager, the series where we spotlight the city and county managers shaping communities and steering through the often messy work of governance. These leaders operate at the intersection of politics and policy, managing daily operations while navigating volatile public discourse, budget constraints, and shifting councils.
But first, a quick programming note.
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Next month’s topic? Stealing. Sort of. We’re talking about when it’s OK to borrow ideas from other cities—and when it’s not. Join special guests Meredith Haynes (City of McKinney) and Richard Yeakley (City of Longview) for a lively conversation about innovation, imitation, and professional courtesy.
Come for the insights, stay for the honesty.
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Today, we head to Wethersfield, Connecticut, to meet Fred Presley, a military veteran, environmental planner, whistleblower, and systems thinker who now serves as Town Manager for Connecticut’s oldest town. Fred’s story isn’t just about climbing the career ladder. It’s about standing up when it counts, leaning into complexity, and refusing to let burnout have the final say.
Note: Unlike previous High Five editions, this one is drawn from an extended interview with Fred. So, while we cover the same five questions, what follows blends direct quotes with context and commentary.
About Wethersfield, Connecticut
Established in 1634, Wethersfield is the oldest town in Connecticut and sits just south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Home to approximately 27,000 residents, it’s a classic New England community that has held tight to its own identity. It boasts historic homes, walkable neighborhoods, and a tradition of strong civic involvement. But being over 90% residential comes with fiscal pressure: the town relies heavily on property taxes, making economic diversification and public trust vital to its long-term health.
Let’s jump into Fred Presley’s High Five.
1. Career Path
GGF: Describe the career path that led to you becoming a Town Manager.
Fred’s journey began at the end of the Cold War in Germany as a military linguist, trained at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. After the Army, he earned an environmental science degree and began working as a wetland scientist, then transitioned into environmental planning and local government in Rhode Island.
Eventually, he served as Director of Planning and Economic Development in Smithfield, where he saw firsthand how much a town manager’s leadership—or lack thereof—could affect an entire community. After dealing with poor leadership, he thought, “I think this is a job I can do better than what these guys are doing.”
That insight became a turning point. He went back for his MPA, stood up against political corruption as a whistleblower, and briefly left government to work with an international think tank in Australia before returning to management roles in Rhode Island, Virginia, and finally, Connecticut.
2. Looking Back
GGF: What’s something you wish you had known as a mid-level manager or supervisor that you know now?
Fred didn’t hesitate: “You have to be able to make the very hard decisions.”
And sometimes, those decisions come with a cost.
In Smithfield, Rhode Island, Fred found himself in the middle of a political storm. The council had fired a well-regarded town manager who refused to carry out what Fred believed were improper actions. He suspected corruption—and he said so. First privately, then publicly. One council member gave him a choice: “You could either stay, do your job, and we’ll take good care of you … or do what you gotta do, and we’ll do what we have to do.”
Fred resigned—and copied the local newspaper on his letter. The fallout was swift. The story blew up. The council president was recalled. But Fred knew he had burned bridges that wouldn’t easily be rebuilt in Rhode Island government. He stepped away from public service for several years, joining an international think tank to reset and recover.
That experience, along with later confrontations in Virginia, taught him the value of principle—and the toll that leadership can take on a person’s health.
“There were times when I was like, I’m not feeling healthy anymore because the stress is really getting to me,” he said.
Fred now prioritizes mental well-being as much as municipal balance sheets.
“I meditate daily. I do music on the side just as stress release … If I didn’t do those things, I wouldn’t be here anymore. I would have left a long time ago.”
3. Biggest Internal Challenge
GGF: What’s the toughest issue inside your organization that keeps you up at night?
Easy. Social media-fueled outrage and misinformation.
“It’s become a very combative environment,” he said. Since 2016, he’s seen a growing willingness among residents and political actors to “say things that are oftentimes patently untrue but state them as facts.”
This isn’t just noise. It bleeds into operations. Meeting times have tripled. Public information requests have exploded. A single controversy around flag policy went viral and “sucked the life out of the entire organization,” he said, after it was picked up by Fox News, the New York Post, and even the Daily Mail in London.
Fred responded by building up a communications function where none had existed and conducting monthly all-staff meetings to stabilize internal culture. But still, the organizational toll is real: “My communications person is spending all her time kind of counteracting the misinformation where I’d like her to be focused on putting out the positive stuff we’re doing.”
4. Biggest External Challenge
GGF: What’s the biggest challenge outside your organization that affects your work the most?
It’s financial uncertainty, particularly the current unpredictable flow of federal and state funding.
“We haven’t heard anything about these grants that we normally already have by now,” he said in our interview last month, noting that agencies were still unsure what funds they’ll receive.
The town’s recent property revaluation—which occurs every five years—added another layer of concern. Residential assessments jumped by more than 50% on average, with some homeowners facing 80–90% increases.
“It’s scaring the heck out of all of my councilmembers,” he said. “The voters are going to blame them. They had nothing to do with it, but the voters are going to blame them.”
5. Best Learning Experience
GGF: What’s the most valuable training, workshop, or education you’ve received outside of college?
Fred pointed to two transformative learning experiences. First, the Senior Executive Institute (SEI) at the University of Virginia.
“The course really … was all about real application,” taught by former managers and grounded in real-world problem-solving. He still leans on the network of peers he met there.
Second, his time with the Resilient Futures Network changed how he sees local government. Based on the science of complex adaptive systems, the approach taught him that communities function more like ecosystems than machines. That systems-level thinking now shapes how he budgets, plans, and leads.
Onward and Upward
Fred Presley’s career doesn’t follow the usual script. He didn’t just rise through the ranks. He walked away when ethics demanded it, stood his ground when it counted, and returned with a wider lens and a steadier hand. His path reminds us that local government leadership isn’t just about managing budgets or operations. It’s about courage, clarity, and knowing when to speak up, even when the fallout is personal.
Fred has built a life in public service around one core belief: that communities thrive when leaders are willing to zoom out, look ahead, and lead with integrity. In an era where division too often drowns out good governance, his perspective is exactly what the profession needs more of.
Have a City (or County or Town) Manager you’d like to see profiled in High Five? Drop us a line and let us know!