Press release
The City of Batavia announces the appointment of Julie Dahlie as Assistant City Manager. Dahlie succeeds Chief Shawn Heubusch, who recently retired, and assumed her new role on August 11, 2026.
Dahlie was part of the City’s active recruitment and competitive search for an Assistant City Manager in 2025 and was identified as one of the top candidates during that process. Since that time, she has continued to expand her responsibilities within the organization and has played an increasingly important role in City administration, compliance, grants, and capital project management.
Dahlie has served the City since 2023, first as Grants Administrator and most recently as Grant and Compliance Officer. During her tenure, she has become an integral resource for departments throughout the organization, assisting with grant funding, compliance, procurement, project management, and the day-to-day work of the City Manager and Assistant City Manager.
“Julie Dahlie has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service and to advancing the City’s strategic initiatives. She has assisted the City in securing more than $36M in grant funding this past year for important community projects while ensuring that the City meets increasingly complex federal and state grant and compliance requirements,” said City Manager Rachael J. Tabelski. “In January 2026, Julie was promoted to Grant and Compliance Officer, taking on greater responsibility for not only grant compliance, but also capital projects, internal policies, and financial procedures. I look forward to continuing to work with Julie as she transitions into this important leadership role supporting the City’s Administrative Department and the entire organization.”
Among her accomplishments, Dahlie built and launched the City’s new website and helped facilitate the City’s participation in the Climate Smart Communities program, positioning the City to pursue additional funding opportunities. She also played a key role in ensuring the City achieved Pro-Housing Community designation, an important qualification for accessing certain New York State funding opportunities.
Dahlie was also a member of the team that developed the City’s successful second Downtown Revitalization Initiative application. She took a lead role in coordinating the planning and application process that ultimately helped Batavia secure its second DRI award.
In addition to her grant and compliance responsibilities, Dahlie has demonstrated a strong “get-it-done” approach to municipal operations. She has conducted numerous training sessions for City staff on a variety of topics and has taken the initiative to assist and train Department of Public Works managers and supervisors on bidding, contracting, procurement, and project administration.
Her responsibilities have continued to expand to include serving as project lead for several significant City initiatives, including the City Centre improvement project, the City’s tree removal and planting program, and the Austin Park playground project scheduled to begin in September.
Dahlie participated in the City’s leadership development training in 2025 and had previously been identified through the City’s succession planning process in 2024 as a future leader within the organization. Her appointment reflects the City’s continued emphasis on developing employees, creating opportunities for advancement, and building leadership capacity from within the organization.
Dahlie holds a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from SUNY New Paltz and resides in the City of Batavia with her family.