 The duties of the administrator were to include assisting in
building and managing the annual budget, seeking out funding
opportunities through grants, helping to promote the city to
prospective new businesses, and a varied list of other duties.
Soon after the fiscal year began, with hopes of having an
administrator hired by November of 2011, Mayor Keith Snyder asked
Aldermen Tom O'Donohue and David Wilmert to serve with him on a
search committee.
Their first order of business was to craft a job description for
the new position.
As a part of that, they sought out the help of David Anderson of
the Range Riders, an organization of retired city managers and
administrators in Illinois.
They worked with Anderson on developing the job description,
writing advertising for the position and screening candidates.
With the process taking longer than expected, no decisions were
made in November. There were a large number of applicants, 43 in
all.
However, to date no one has been hired.
At the budget meeting on March 10, Snyder submitted a budget for
the city administrator position for nine months of the next fiscal
year. He said no one had been hired, but he was hoping to have a
decision soon.
However, at the second meeting, last Saturday, he said the
committee had rejected all the applicants and were looking at
running a second search. If so, he projected it would be at least
November before an administrator was hired. He said the budget
previously submitted could be backed down to a six-month amount.
On Monday, via an email communication, Snyder responded to the
question of what had happened with the following comments:
(Copy)
During our first
search we interviewed eight people by phone and whittled the list
down to four candidates that we interviewed face-to-face. The four
candidates were interviewed by department heads, by a panel of local
citizens, and by the full Council.
[to top of second column] |
We invited one of
those candidates back for a second interview. After consideration of
all candidates' strengths and experiences and the city's needs, we
decided to not extend an offer to any of the four candidates we
interviewed.
We have not yet
committed to opening up a new search, but we might. We want to get
the best person possible in that position as quickly as possible. If
that means a new search, so be it. If that means we can find someone
without a search, so be that. We'll have to see what unfolds.
The council and I
remain very committed to hiring the city's first city administrator
and getting the best person on-board to guide Lincoln into the
future.
At Saturday's meeting, both O'Donohue and Wilmert expressed some
dread at the thought of going through the process again; however,
Snyder said the committee is still committed to finding the best person
possible for the city of Lincoln, and if that means starting over,
then that means starting over.
[By NILA SMITH]
Past related articles
-
March 14, 2011
--
2011-12 budget-building begins
Part 1: Snyder: 'We need a city manager'; council agrees
-
April 01, 2011
--
City budget, phase 2: city administration,
citywide cleanup and a new city administrator
-
Aug. 10, 2011
-- City Briefs:
Tourism, city manager, sewer
woes and more
-
Sept. 28, 2011
-- City Briefs:
Prison support, new administrator,
railroad crossing and more
|
