Three finalists for the job of public works director were expected to be in Shawano on Friday, meeting with officials and staff and taking a tour of the city.
The Common Council was scheduled to convene in closed session at 8:30 a.m. for a series of meetings that will also introduce the finalists to the Field Committee and department heads.
There will also be a final round of interviews with each of the candidates.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said he was hopeful a job offer could be made to one of the candidates, however city officials do not plan to release the name until the offer has been accepted.
Knapp described the finalists as “well-educated and experienced, with a lot of potential.”
This is the second time city officials have interviewed finalists for the post vacated by Rick Stautz, who retired in April.
In June, the city offered the job to Kent Taylor, who was operations manager at the Green Bay Water Utility.
Taylor accepted the position on June 14, but informed the city on June 25, just days before he was supposed to start, that he was instead taking a job in Neenah as that city’s water utility director.
City officials then decided to start from scratch, broadening the director’s job description and hiring a consulting firm — Oshkosh-based Public Administration Associates, LLC — to find candidates. There were more than 20 applications for the job, according to Knapp.
The city also appointed Mary Nordin to serve as interim public works director until the position is filled.
The new position will also carry a new title: assistant city administrator/public works coordinator.
Knapp said public works will be the primary focus of the job, but the new title more accurately reflects the working relationship between the city administrator’s office and public works.
Knapp said Stautz’s duties changed significantly over the course of his 25 years with the Department of Public Works and encompassed aspects of community planning, economic development, and liaison work with the county on solid waste and wastewater issues.
According to the job description as originally advertised, the public works director was to be responsible for administering a $6.6 million operating budget and supervising all of the department’s activities and programs. Those included engineering, streets and transportation, storm water, the water and sanitary sewer utility, solid waste and recycling collection, and the landfill.
Stautz’s salary was $83,449 when he retired.
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