A new public works director will be coming on board for Shawano in July after the Shawano Common Council chose from three finalists at the end of May.
Mike Mahloch, currently the utilities superintendent for the village of Bellevue, was selected to be the public works director. He previously worked for the city of Shawano as a water and sewer operator, leaving in 2012, according to City Administrator Eddie Sheppard.
“He has a little bit of a history,” Sheppard said.
Seven people, by way of consultant, were recommended for the position being vacated by Scott Kroening, who is retiring. Kroening will stay on for a few months as a consultant for some of the major public works projects started during his tenure to promote continuity.
Mahloch will start as director on July 22, according to Sheppard. His annual salary will be $96,000.
“I think we just really liked his approach,” Sheppard said. “Obviously, he is very bright, very intelligent. You can tell that he’s got a good work ethic. He’s been ascending very well in his previous positions, and we just feel like he’s ready to take on this position with the city.”
Sheppard believes Mahloch will be a good fit for the direction that the city of Shawano is going.
“I think a lot of the value he has in management aligns with our management team, and we felt like he was the right fit,” Sheppard said.
Mahloch is, in Sheppard’s view, able to embrace the leadership style where he’ll work for the people of the community.
“Everybody’s different, but he’s pretty much in the servant leader style,” Sheppard said. “He cares a lot about the organization, and he’ll do what he needs to do to make sure that we’re successful, and I think that’s sort of the approach that we all adopted here at the city, where it’s organization first and then we’ll figure out how to get the good things done.”
Even though Mahloch can fill the position, Sheppard noted the city will miss Kroening’s expertise.
“Scott had the years and years of experience (with Shawano) that you can’t just come with,” Sheppard said. “Obviously, there will be a learning curve like with any new job, but fortunately he has a good support system.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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