Photo by Matt de Simone
By Matt de Simone
The Town of Troutville has a new mayor, Michael Mansfield. Town Council appointed Mansfield to the position at its June 17 meeting, replacing former Troutville Mayor David Horton, who recently announced his retirement.
Mansfield is a native of northeastern Pennsylvania who has a degree in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He’s been a Troutville resident for the last several years and has served on Troutville Town Council since last January after retiring from a career that included being a department head and training manager for Carter Machinery and the Liebherr Group.
Before moving to Troutville nine years ago, Mansfield moved to Salem from Chesapeake to work for Carter.
After Mansfield retired from Carter last year, he was looking for a way to get more involved in the Troutville community.
“In looking back, I had a pretty amazing career for where I came from,” Mansfield said in a recent interview. “So, I decided that I should try to find a way to give back. One thing led to another and a bug was put in my ear about getting on Town Council so I ran a write-in candidacy last November and got enough votes. So then I joined (Troutville) council in January.”
He and council have continued to work on refurbishing the town’s water tower, which he is proud of. Mansfield noted that he’s enjoyed working with Troutville Town Council.
“It’s been great,” Mansfield said of working with Town Council. “They’re good people. When the opportunity came along to appoint a new mayor, they had the confidence to believe that I could do the job, so I was appointed.”
Moving forward, Mansfield is excited about council’s plans for the town that include updating the town’s website so residents can find an easier way to remain updated on upcoming meeting dates and information about council members.
Mansfield then mentioned some of his favorite things about the Town of Troutville.
“The first thing (I consider to be one of my favorite things about the town) would be the small population and the friendliness of everybody,” Mansfield said. “Another thing would be the town park. It is a great place to go sit and watch the world go around.”
For more information about the Town of Troutville, visit https://townoftroutville-va.gov/.
