City of Olathe, KS
12/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/16/2025 20:53
City of Olathe Appoints Susan Sherman as City Manager
Following a comprehensive nationwide search, at the Dec. 16 Olathe City Council meeting, the Governing Body appointed Susan Sherman as the next Olathe City Manager.
Sherman will be the ninth City Manager, and first female City Manager, in Olathe's 167-year history. She has served with distinction in the City Manager's Office since 1989. As current Deputy City Manager, Sherman is responsible for the day-to-day operations of four focus areas in Olathe's 2040 Strategic Plan; Economy, Exceptional Services, Infrastructure, and Quality of Life. During her tenure, she has played a key role in guiding the Olathe's growth from approximately 68,000 residents to nearly 150,000.
"I am deeply honored to continue serving the Olathe community in this new capacity. Olathe is an extraordinary community with dedicated public servants, innovative partners, and engaged residents," Sherman said. "I know our hardworking and passionate team's commitment to excellence is the backbone of our success. Together, we will continue building a stronger and more vibrant community into the future."
"We're thrilled to offer Susan the role of City Manager and look forward to a successful negotiation of a contract. For the past 36 years she's been an outstanding champion for Olathe, helping to lead this organization with integrity, vision, collaboration, and above all, a commitment to doing what's right for Olatheans," Mayor John Bacon said. "We're confident the extension of her steady leadership will allow Olathe to grow and thrive on the exceptional foundation we've built for years to come."
Sherman is a well-decorated, passionate, and dedicated public servant with over 35 years of executive leadership. She is a credentialed manager by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Sherman is well-known and respected for building trust-based relationships across organizations, communities, regional, state, and federal partners. Sherman has a proven track record in transforming government operations into values-driven metrics-based systems achieving exceptional service delivery, high resident satisfaction, and strong financial stability.
Throughout her career, Sherman has earned numerous professional honors including the 2006 Assistant Excellence in Leadership Award in honor of Buford Watson Jr. by the International City County Management Association and the 2014 ICMA Career Development Award in Memory of L.P. Cookingham. In 2019, Susan was awarded the Kansas Association of City Manager's Buford Watson Excellence in Public Management Award and in 2022 was named the Citizen of the Year by the Olathe Chamber of Commerce.
Sherman will begin her new role Jan. 31, 2026, following the retirement of current City Manager Michael Wilkes.
City of Olathe, KS published this content on December 16, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 17, 2025 at 02:53 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]