CENTRAL — Former Central Town Administrator Herb Thompson, who served for 18 years prior to his retirement two years ago, is once again guiding the day-to-day operations of a municipality — albeit on an interim basis.

Thompson was recently named interim manager for the city of Woodruff, located in Spartanburg County, a little more than 17 miles from Spartanburg, and roughly the same size as Central (population 4,086). But Thompson said he would continue residing in Central, traveling to Woodruff two to three days per week.

Though not lacking in things to do since leaving Central Town Hall in 2006 — operating a grass cutting operation and serving on the Pickens County Election Commission — Thompson said he missed the daily interaction with people and ability to solve their problems.

When former Woodruff City Manager Scott Slaton succeeded Chip Boyles as service manager for the Municipal Association of South Carolina, a call went out to the Central native.

“They asked if I would be interested,” Thompson said.

Not only does Thompson bring nearly two decades of experience from his administrative role in Central, but he also served the town for 18 years as a volunteer fireman, 12 years on the Town Council and eight years as a city judge.

“I’ve done it all as far as city government is concerned,” Thompson said, adding that he also spent two years as manager of a Greenville plant.

As was the case with Central, Thompson will guide a small-scale staff in Woodruff — consisting of the police department, fire department, street department, sanitation department and building codes.

During Thompson’s tenure in Central, the town experienced growth in the form of student apartments, the Central-Clemson Library and a new Central Post Office.

But the close relationship between the town of Central and city of Clemson is one of the most noteworthy achievements of Thompson’s tenure. Both entities combined to construct the Central-Clemson Indoor Recreation Center in 1999.

Though Woodruff doesn’t possess the population of college students as Central, Thompson feels the town has a bright future nonetheless.

“I feel that Woodruff has a lot of possibilities,” Thompson said.

Thompson emphasizes that he only agreed to accept the position on an interim basis, hoping that a permanent city manager is named in “a short period of time.” However, he did express interest in assisting similar size cities or towns in the future.

“I’m open to the possibility to doing interim work for smaller communities,” Thompson said.