When Troy Kelsay took a job as a sports equipment manager while enrolled at the University of Iowa, he had no idea what he wanted his future to look like.

However, this job eventually put him in touch with the man who would influence Kelsay’s path to law enforcement — former Johnson County Sheriff Gary Hughes.

“As a young adult, I really did not know what I wanted to do with my life, and meeting then-Sheriff Hughes and listening to the stories kind of got me interested in law enforcement,” Kelsay said.

From there, Kelsay worked in various law enforcement positions in Johnson County, including the sheriff’s department, Coralville Police Department, and eventually the Iowa City Police Department. From 1991 until 2018, Kelsay climbed the ranks within the city police department before retiring as captain of operations.

But law enforcement was not yet done with Kelsay. After he retired from the department, the City of University Heights reached out to ask him to apply for the position of police chief there. At the time, the city was looking for stability and experience in a department with high turnover and young officers, Kelsay said.

“He brought a level of competence and professionalism to the police department that we really needed at the time,” University Heights City Councilor Nick Herbold said. “He had a lot of experience through his career with the Iowa City Police Department, and we were really lucky to find someone with his background that was willing to work for our smaller town.”

After some thought, Kelsay came out of retirement to apply for the position and was hired. University Heights Mayor Louise From said Kelsay built up the city’s police force not only in numbers but in leadership and community relationships.

“Our police officers cover 170 acres here and constantly are going up and down our streets,” From said. “So when they see people, they’ll stop, and they have some time to stop, chat, you know, ‘How’s it going? What’re you doing?’ So they know people real well.”

Kelsay led the University Heights Police Department from 2019 until retiring once again in June. Despite not living in University Heights, Kelsay said he grew to love the small city and the people who call it home.

“I enjoyed it. I wasn’t in any hurry to leave,” Kelsay said. “They offered to renew my contract again, but I just felt like it was time. They were great people. It was hard for me to say no, but I just felt like it was time to be retired.”

Months later, though, Kelsay was asked if he could help University Heights out in another way.

Currently, all city staff for University Heights except for the police are part-time, meaning city employees typically have other full-time jobs on top of their duties for University Heights, From said. The city has not had a city administrator to help with any administrative tasks, so those tasks typically get delegated across other city employees, Kelsay said.

In fact, when Kelsay was police chief, he said he often did administrative duties unrelated to the police department because he was one of the only full-time employees there.

“I gradually was assigned to do those [tasks] or offered to do those, and those were given over to me,” Kelsay said. “And it worked because they weren’t paying me anymore to do that. It took me a little bit away from the street, but I could do them easily. I could represent the city well.”

When the City of University Heights decided now was the right time to hire a city administrator, Kelsay was the ideal candidate, From said. The city posted the job online but received no applicants other than Kelsay, who actually waited until the last second to apply.

“I waited until like 30 minutes before it was closed to actually submit my application,” Kelsay said. “I was happily retired, I was enjoying my retirement, and that was one of the things that I wanted to make sure that I didn’t give up the flexibility to do that.”

To ensure he is able to enjoy his retirement and help out the city, Kelsay’s new position as city administrator — which started on Nov. 1 — is part-time and is currently in a six-month trial period. After six months, Kelsay and the city will sit down to see if the position is working well for all involved parties.

Kelsay said he feels confident that at the end of six months, everyone will be happy.

“This is a brand new thing. We don’t want to surprise anybody,” Kelsay said. “So, in six months, we’ll revisit it, and all parties can sit down and say, hopefully, ‘Man, this is working really well, and maybe with a few changes, it can work even better.’”

From said the city is excited and lucky to have Kelsay back among its ranks.

“He really understands the city and understands how it works and how we work, and so he’s the perfect candidate for this position,” From said.