ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.

The news about Wayland City Manager Mike Selden’s departure was bittersweet.

It was bitter in that the Wayland is losing one of its better administrators throughout its history of almost 50 years as a home-rule city. Selden walked into a difficult situation with a community divided over the firing of popular longtime Police Chief Dan Miller.

Selden was able to contribute to healing the rift slowly and surely over three and a half years, and aside from the brief tempest over trash hauling services, his tenure was marked by relatively smooth sailing.

To be sure, many others contributed to the process of stabilizing a volatile and unfortunate situation, but Selden was a leader, as he should be, in steering Wayland forward.

Selden reminds me of Mike Bitar, who came to the Albion public school system, which at that time (1979) was in an even bigger mess than Wayland’s in the spring of 2012. After the superintendent agreed to step down and Bitar, assistant superintendent for finance, was elevated to the school chief’s job, the district began slowly, but surely to correct problems of the past and move forward.

There are motivational posters that insist “Smooth seas do not a seaworthy sailor make,” which is true, but a truly good administrator can take contentious times and eventually turn them into “steady as she goes,” to borrow a phrase from Capt. James T. Kirk on Star Trek.

Selden, like Bitar, earned his stripes by meeting the challenges head on and not using fancy dancing and phony public relations tricks, but rather by being a straight shooter.

I suppose I’ve always been a sucker for public officials who for the most part have been willing to tell me the truth, as ugly as it may seem.

The “sweet” is for Mr. Selden, in that he’s heading onward and upward in his career. He deserves thanks and at least hearty handshake for doing a good job here as he rides off into the sunset.

On another note: Some have complained that Selden never moved into the community during his tenure as city manager. This actually reflects the changing nature of our communities and the professionals we hire.

It is common for professional people, such as teachers, not to live in the community where they work for several reasons. Some want to escape the hectic pace of their work and relax in their personal lives. Some don’t mind the commute to work, and despite our protestations to the contrary, gas actually is relatively cheap. And some want to keep their private lives private, like the teacher who wants to go to a local bar and have a beer with a friend without being seen by students and parents.

I honestly don’t know if the City Council and Selden had an agreement for paying his daily traveling costs, but I don’t think so.

We must remember that the average city manager lasts about five years in a job. Insisting he or she buy a house here and then sell it after only a few years is an unrealistic expectation in this modern “Bowling Alone” style of living in America.