Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE – The town of Winona Lake is looking for a new town manager after hiring one less than a year ago.
Current Town Manager Pam Howard gave the council her resignation letter about a week or so ago, according to Winona Lake Town Council President Ashley McGinnis on Wednesday. In the letter, Howard cited her living about an hour away and the commute as the reason for her resignation.
Howard’s last day will be May 22 and she will be the town manager in Hamilton, McGinnis said. Hamilton is about 8.5 miles from Butler.
Howard was hired as Winona Lake’s town manager July 7, 2025. Howard replaced Craig Allebach as town manager. Allebach had announced his intentions of retiring at the end of October 2024 or when a new town manager could be found.
Howard lives in Butler, Ind., and had previously been the town manager in Waterloo. Prior to that, she was Waterloo’s deputy town manager and code enforcement officer. Before that, she had been the town’s deputy clerk since 2017, according to a previous Times-Union article.
McGinnis said the council is sad to see Howard leave because she’s been great and has done some positive things for the town while town manager. One thing McGinnis cited was ending the contract with SiteWorx for street department personnel and bringing the hiring back under town control, which will save the town $100,000 a year. Postings for street department laborers and street superintendent have been posted on the town’s website.
The position of town manager has been posted on the town’s website. McGinnis said as far as when they’ll hire a new town manager, the council will have to see what kind of response they get from the job posting, but she does hope to have someone in place by May 22.
Howard was on vacation Wednesday.
