A Washington County native has been named the new town manager for Damascus.
Isaiah Thomas, who started on Oct. 5, succeeds Chris Bell, who was the Washington County town’s first full-time manager.
Thomas, 32, who grew up in the Damascus and Meadowview areas, wanted the job because he loves the town, he said in a phone interview last week.
“It’s a special place with a lot of special people,” he said. “I think the town brings out the best in people, honestly. I think when people get here, they feel the sense of community here, and they want to be a part of it and help contribute to it. … That’s probably its best asset.”
Thomas said a priority will be to help the town continue to rebuild from the devastation wrought two years ago by the inland effects of Hurricane Helene. Damascus and its surrounding communities were hit hard by flooding and high winds, which damaged or destroyed a number of businesses and homes.
The upper half of the popular Virginia Creeper Trail also sustained heavy damage. That portion of the hiking and biking trail, which runs through the town, has been closed since the September 2024 storm, affecting many people who make their living off the tourism created by the trail.
The new town manager said a lot of progress has been made and it happened more quickly than many expected, though the bike shuttle businesses, which rent out equipment and provide shuttle service to those who use the trail, aren’t back to pre-storm levels.
He said that Bell and the rest of the town have done a “wonderful job” of building back from the storm, and he wants to continue that momentum.
Thomas said he’s looking forward to the completion of repairs and the reopening of the trail, which is set for March 31.
Another priority for Thomas will be to work to bring more housing to Damascus, which has a shortage of middle-income housing, he said.
Mayor Katie Lamb said in a news release that town officials and residents are “super excited to have Isaiah as our new town manager. I feel that his love for Damascus really shines through. He was right here with us before, during and after Helene. He knows where we have been, where we need to be, and he is willing to put in the work to get us there.”
She also thanked Bell, who had started the job as town manager just two months before Helene hit, for his work to help the town recover after the storm.
Bell, who continues to live in Damascus, said when he took the town manager’s job, he thought it would be a semi-retirement of sorts, but that changed when the storm hit.
“When I took on the role, I couldn’t have anticipated a thousand-year flood hitting our town,” he said in a phone interview last week. “Then, it became a full-time job on steroids. I feel like myself, along with staff and council and the community, we rallied and got things pointed in the right direction. All of the recovery isn’t complete, but we’re one step closer and excited for the trail to reopen and our economy to bounce back.”
He added that he is now fully retired and his first priority will be to fix his house, which was damaged by the Helene flooding. He never had the time to deal with it while he was town manager.
Bell has also accepted an offer to serve on the board of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and will remain active as a resident in the area, he added.
He said he was excited to pass the torch to Thomas, who he believes will be good for the town.
“He’s got fantastic experience, a lot of knowledge and the fact that he grew up in this community is an even bigger benefit,” Bell said.
Most recently, Thomas served as an economic development specialist for the town of Abingdon, working in business development, infrastructure, housing, grant administration and regional partnerships.
Before working in local government, he spent seven years in private industry in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
He attended Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon and then East Tennessee State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business with a major in marketing.
Thomas lives on a farm in Meadowview with his wife and two children.
