That revolving door at the Lakeland city manager’s office keeps on spinning, doesn’t it?

This week, a special meeting of the suburb’s Board of Commissioners turned into the departure notice for City Manager Michael Walker, the latest in a string of leaders to have “former” added to their resume from Lakeland. 

The general issue seemed to involve how the elected officials, like the mayor, should communicate with the city’s legal representation, as opposed to having to go through Walker. There also were concerns about him hiring too many new positions, increasing personnel costs. Other matters were stacked up to reflect moves made by Walker that raised questions.

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Such positions — city manager, city administrator, chief administrative officer — have a reputation of being short term. The average stay for such executives is oh, about seven years, according to experts in the field.

Over the years, municipalities like Germantown and Collierville have kept their managers for decades. People like Patrick Lawton in Germantown (34 years), James Lewellen in Collierville (26 years). In Bartlett, Mark Brown served as chief administrative officer for 12 years.

And with that longevity in the suburbs, Lakeland is working hard to bring that average back to seven years.

Walker had been in the office since 2022. Three years. He replaced Shane Horn, who was in the job about four years before he left to go back home to work in Michigan.

Jim Atkinson served in the role before Horn. Atkinson’s tenure was about three years before he left to go in private practice. He has since returned to the city in the role of commissioner.

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Atkinson got the job after former county commissioner Chris Thomas was city manager for about a year. He was ousted by the board.

That takes us back to 2013, when Bob Wherry was fired. And Wherry may have had the best run of them all, serving more than 10 years.

After that, the roster of city managers is kind of a blur.

But suffice it to say, Lakeland has a quick turnover of people serving in the position that runs the suburb on a day-to-day basis. Enough to offset the shelf life of the Lawtons and the Lewellens of the profession and bring that tenure close to the seven-year average.

And Walker loses his job the day after we publish a story about him adopting a new dog at the city’s Pupapalooza in the Park event.

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Granted some of the departures from Lakeland were because city managers got other opportunities — like Atkinson and Horn. Others were unceremoniously relieved of their duties and their office key taken away. Whatever the reason, the city has earned its reputation for short stays in that job.

City Engineer and Chief Utilities and Infrastructure Officer Emily Harrell was appointed interim city manager after Walker was terminated. Reporter Michael Waddell was told after the meeting that Harrell isn’t interested in the job permanently.

I don’t know if Lakeland officials have someone already in mind to fill the city manager’s role, or if they will conduct a search like other cities have done.

Whatever route they take, the applicants might want to consider the job security with that role in Lakeland.

But I do hope they let Walker keep the dog he adopted at Pupapalooza.