The day after all the celebration and accolades of a long and respected career as a city and county administrator, Dennis Hays sat quietly in his chair perusing emails for the final time.

 

The reality that he was retiring after 38-years of public service began to sink-in. In fact, the atmosphere of the entire office appeared to be somewhat subdued that early Friday morning.

 

Just the day before, a large group of well wishers packed the lobby of City Hall Thursday afternoon. The group consisted of various colleagues, staff, city and county officials, family and friends. You can only imagine the amount of people Hays interacted with in various ways during his long stellar career.

 

Bonner Springs Mayor, Jeff Harrington, proclaimed the day of Thursday, March 6^th as "Dennis Hays Day" in the City of Bonner Springs.

 

"I want to recognize all that Dennis has done in the profession of public service," says Mike Webb, city administrator for Edwardsville, KS.

 

As one of several speakers on the program, Webb went on to emphasize that the accomplishments Hays achieved weren't just to benefit residents living in Kansas City, Kansas, but for the betterment of the entire county.

 

Police Chief Ellen Hanson, Wyandotte County Sheriff Don Ash, and Fire Chief John Paul Jones also provided remarks and presented him with a retirement gift. Chief Hansen presented Hays with a police badge and leather case. Chief Jones presented his boss with a plaque in the shape of a Maltese cross, which represents the honor of fire service.

 

"Dennis cares about this community. He's been very vigilant in making sure KCK is well protected. We do not take that lightly and neither did Dennis," said Chief Jones. "I want to thank you for this consistency, for your integrity and the fact that in numerous times during very intense and dangerous incidents you would always ask of me to keep the firefighters safe."

 

"I've watched Dennis and he's always been the calm in the storm. His steady hand helping us navigate through some very tough times," said Sheriff Don Ash.

 

Hays was presented with several other gifts from UG staff that pretty much summed up his career. A couple of items that brought much laughter from the audience were his old grey sweater and pager.

 

 

Many of his staff members referred to his button up sweater as the "Mr. Rogers sweater." The sweater was enclosed in a glass display case never to be worn again.

 

Also, while others were up to date with cell phones, iPads and other technical devices, Hays was known for always carrying around a pager.  He was presented with a pager plated in gold to memorialize his obsession with what most view as an obsolete form of communication.

 

It was a fun filled evening that carried over into what would be Hays's last Commission meeting. Following a brief introduction of music from the KU fight song, Baby Jay, the KU mascot, surprisingly enters the room with a framed letter of congratulations from KU men's basketball coach Bill Self. Hays' observes the moment in astonishment as people quickly got out their camera phones and started taking pictures.

 

"The journey is really about a team and policy members who have a vision. It's really been a journey that included trust and confidence. I think if we don't have strong trust and confidence between the administrator and the administrative staff, the mayor and commission, we will not as an organization and a community move forward and progress to meet our full opportunities in the future," said Hays.

 

As he went on to thank his family for their support and good friends and relationships he grew and established over the years, the day was all about Dennis Hays and his legacy with the UG.

 

As he sat in the chair, behind his desk with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, it wasn't emotions of sadness or doubts about retiring. It was just Dennis being himself; cool, calm and collected. Just like he was 19-years ago when he took reign as head administrator.