Purcellville, VA — The Town of Purcellville has announced the retirement of Jason Didawick, longtime Director of Public Works, marking the end of a significant chapter for one of the town’s most relied-upon departments. Didawick’s retirement became effective this week, concluding 15 years of dedicated service to the community.
During his tenure, Didawick played a central role in managing Purcellville’s water and wastewater systems, road maintenance, snow removal operations, facility oversight, and the broad range of responsibilities carried by the Public Works Department. His leadership guided the town through major challenges—from severe weather events to aging infrastructure—while supporting Town Council and town staff through multiple transitions.
Reflecting on his decision, Didawick shared, “I chose to resign. I wasn’t forced out or given an ultimatum; this was my choice.” He mentioned that hearing potential directions being considered by the administrative team made him reconsider his timeline: “The events from this meeting definitely helped in my decision to resign, although it was not what I had planned for that day.”
Colleagues describe Didawick as steady, solutions-focused, and deeply committed to serving residents with reliability and professionalism. Under his direction, the Public Works team implemented key improvements to enhance service delivery, safety, and long-term planning for the town’s infrastructure. Didawick expressed gratitude to the Engineering Team for their dedication, stating, “You have spent countless hours making sure that our projects were ready with the best interest of the town and Public Works at heart.”
Addressing the Town Council, Didawick advised the importance of unity, “If you can’t get along, how do you expect staff to? Your actions are so stressful on your department heads, and it is at an all-time high.” He urged the council to work through their issues to prevent staff turnover.
The Town Hall Administrative team and Public Works team also received candid feedback from Didawick. He emphasized the need for them to better understand the breadth and demands of public works. He noted, “I feel you don’t. You need to get a better understanding of what it is like to have alarms going off at 2 a.m., having low water in the million-gallon tank and having wells going down.”
Town officials expressed their appreciation for Didawick’s contributions and years of commitment. His retirement leaves a notable vacancy in a department essential to Purcellville’s operations. The town is expected to announce interim leadership and the process for naming a permanent replacement in the coming weeks.
Residents and staff have extended their well-wishes as Didawick steps into retirement. His 15 years of service have left a meaningful and lasting impact on the community, and his leadership will be remembered as Purcellville continues to grow and evolve. In his retirement, he is now focused on his family and cattle farm, “Didawick Farm.”
In a heartfelt message to the residents, Didawick said, “Thank you for letting me be part of your family. Jobs will end, job titles will change, but friendships will always last.” This sentiment underscores his lasting dedication and connection to the community he served.
Here is the letter from Jason Didawick:
I want to start with that I chose to resigned. I was not forced out or given an ultimatum; this was my choice. When I was in the meeting and heard the possible direction that the administrative team was exploring, it was when I felt it was time to resign. I had been looking into retiring and had started the application process but did not complete the process. Yes, the events from this meeting helped me in my decision to resign, but I had no plans of resigning that day. I was leaning toward delaying my retirement date until we had the 6F waterline project completed, got the new Water Superintendent on board, and got through the upcoming budget process. I wanted to stay and make it a little better for the next person. But once I heard of my shortcomings and not doing my part after what we currently had been through and what we were facing with so many water-related issues, these comments hit me hard, and I was like wow and shocked. If I let the staff down, I’m so sorry. It is one of the hardest things I struggle with once again, I am so sorry.
Moving forward:
To The Town Council: Thank you for letting me work in this organization. My concern, everyone needs to find a way to get along with each other. You all are the head of this; if you can’t get along, how do you expect staff to? Your actions are so stressful on your department heads, and it is at an all-time high destroying them. It is critical that you find a way to work through your issues before you have no staff left. I regret not speaking up more. Once you start working together, things will fall into place; this road will be hard, but it is the first step.
Town Hall administrative team: You have a problem. You think you know what Public Works does. I feel you don’t. You need to get a better understanding of what it is like to have alarms going off at 2 am, having low water in the million-gallon tank, and having wells going down. Also wondering how many hours you are going to have to work to meet the day-to-day usage to stay in Virginia Department of Health compliance. With a failing infrastructure, working long hours during snow events, water and sewer breaks, and backups. You don’t go on vacation when your organization is going through a major water break and you are on a boil water notice. I guess I was made different. I don’t expect your team to know every in and out of the public works functions, but this team needs to understand a lot more.
Engineering Team: Thank you so much for all the time that you put into our projects. You all have spent so many hours making sure that our project is ready, and you always have the best interest of the town and public works. Council, please listen to what the Engineering team is telling you. You have a water resource problem, and you need to focus on this now. Engineering team, I’m sorry for my shortcomings and that I let you all down. That was never my intention.
Finance Team: Thank you for being there helping me through procurement and budgeting. Thank you so much.
Parks and Rec Team: You all do so much with so little thanks.
Police Department: Thanks for being there when we needed help. Your team has been through so much, but you never lost focus; thanks for everything.
Wastewater Team: You all are awesome. I have watched you all have low morale to where you all are at an all-time high morale. You stayed and worked together. Thank you so much. Sorry some of you all have to carry my workload; that was never my intention.
Water Team: In the past couple of years, you all have been hurt the most. Dealing with droughts, well failures, staff retiring, and your co-workers just leaving. I have watched you work extra hours just to make sure the town has water for the next day; there were days that we were wondering what would happen next. You always found a way to meet the demand, and for that, I thank you. I know you all feel that no one was hearing you and for that, I’m sorry I feel like I let you all down the most. I was hoping to finish up some much-needed projects. I hope these projects get completed to take some of the stress off of you all. Thank you for everything.
Maintenance team: You guys are awesome. No matter the situation, I could always count on you. No matter the emergency, you all showed up, fixed the problem, and would be ready for the next event. I would often hear from the administrative team, “well that is what they are paid to do” once again, they don’t have a clue what public works does. You all need to finish strong, finish some of these critical projects like the 6F water line; this will help with the town’s water demand. Sorry I let you down. I was looking forward to helping you all on this. I will miss you all the most.
To The Residents of Purcellville: Thank you for letting me be part of your family. Jobs will end, job titles will change, but friendships will always last.
Thank you,
Jason