New Crossville city manager expected to start March 6, already working on city budget.

Crossville's new manager Greg Wood is expected to officially start March 6 but has already received information on the city's upcoming budget preparation and is reviewing the data so he'll be up to date when he starts.

After ten months since the last professional city manager David Rutherford was removed from the position, Crossville has seen two two interim city managers and several employee morale issues.

The council has been searching for a manager for nearly 6 months and received some 40 applications. The council narrowed the list down to 6 and during the interview process three of those candidates dropped out of the running before the city selected Wood of Baker Florida for the position.

Council initially made the offer to Wood in a special called meeting February 7 and approved the draft of an employment contract during the regular council meeting February 14. The motion to approve the contract was unanimous with four votes in favor. Councilman J. H. Graham was absent as he continues to recover from recent surgery.

Council approves new city manager contract

In addition to the two year contract at a salary of $80,211 with a possible 10 percent raise in 6 months, the agreement includes a 6 month severance deal if Wood is not fired for cause. The effective date of the employment is March 6th and Wood will receive up to a $2500 moving allowance. Wood also receives health, disability and life insurance, a vehicle to drive and a $50 a month cell phone allowance.

During the interview, Greg Wood was asked for a series of words to describe himself and he responded that he was “genuine, a simple man, compassionate, logical, not taking himself too seriously and a team player.”

When asked about his impressions of Crossville, Mr. Wood said that “Crossville was a great place to live.” He said he had looked around and found out some things adding, “None of it scared me off.”

Greg Wood currently lives in Baker Florida. He holds a masters of public administration from the University of West Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984 along with a time in the military.

Wood did receive one of the highest ratings from the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) consultants who ranked the initial list of candidates last November based on their experience.

The search for a city manager got underway in August last year with an initial deadline set for applications at the end of September and that deadline was extended twice because of a November election and new council members taking seats in December.   

Mr. Wood's resume is below:

City manager candidate Greg Wood has taken council's offer--final approval could come Tuesday night.

It appears that the City of Crossville's new city manager will be Greg Wood and final approval could come as soon as Tuesday's council meeting.

According to Mayor James Mayberry, tasked with negotiating with candidate Greg Wood who was selected in a special called meeting last Tuesday, Wood has accepted the offer and agreed to the terms of a 2 year contract proposed. The only contingency remaining is a background check though Mayberry said Wood had held a high level of clearance when he was in the military and it is hoped the results of that check will be available by Tuesday night.

Council makes offer to Greg Wood for city manager

A draft contract is up for review by the council though sources say Wood has already agreed to the terms and signed the contract. Mayberry said Wood had a few loose end to tie up before he would come to Crossville but information on the city's budget will be forwarded to him and he will start reviewing the budget right away.

In addition to the two year contract at a salary of $80,211 with a possible 10 percent raise in 6 months, the agreement includes a 6 month severance deal if Wood is not fired for cause. The effective date of the employment is March 6th and Wood will receive up to a $2500 moving allowance. Wood also receives health, disability and life insurance, a vehicle to drive and a $50 a month cell phone allowance.  Wood's resume is below.

Tuesday night's meeting schedule starts with the Audit Committee meeting starting at 4:45 followed by a closed executive session with the attorney at 5:15. The executive session could last up to 30 minutes and a beer board meeting will be held at 5:45 with the regular meeting to begin at 6:00 PM.

The council's agenda will take up operations of the new corporate hanger at the Crossville Memorial Airport. The hanger has been in use for a period of time but no discussion of fees, utilities and operational concerns have been addressed. Council is also expected to approve a final change order on the project, a reduction of $13,000 in the final cost.

Councilwoman Pamala Harris is expected to be appointed to a vacancy on the City Lake Commission and council is expected to handle two requests for sewer service out side the city limits.

Other agenda items council will consider:

• Changes to the public records ordinance and policy,
• Third reading on the property tax freeze,
• Loan agreement on Air Force jet Miss Nettie,
• Street closings for monthly cruise-ins,
• Property transfer for Shooting Sports Park,
• Quail Hollow airport property.

Crossville city council could choose a new city manager as early as February 7 in a special called meeting.

Crossville city council appears much closer to deciding on the hiring a new city manager after interviewing the three remaining finalists twice.

A special called meeting is set for Tuesday February 7 at 6:30 PM. That will be a busy night for the council with a work session set for 5 PM, a special called beer board at 6:00 PM and the called meeting to consider hiring a city manager.

The called meeting's agenda is listed as “discussion and action on hiring a city manager.” Members could either move forward with a hiring decision or discuss and decide on how to proceed with the decision. It is unclear which way they will go. At the end of the second work session, Councilman Scot Shanks said he would like to see a unanimous vote for whoever is chosen.

Councilman J. H. Graham has been unable to attend most of the interview meetings in person due to recent emergency surgery and while he is improving it is unclear if he will be able to attend the called meeting next Tuesday.

Council members interviewed three finalist candidates for the city manager position.

Here they talk to Steve Foote.  Very few of the public attended the interview sessions.

Council spent several hours Monday and Tuesday asking questions of the three candidates including Dennis Sparks and David Foote Monday then Greg Wood on Tuesday evening. Council had planned a second interview Tuesday but the candidate Mark Reeter informed the city he had taken another position.

One of the more interesting questions asked of the 3 remaining candidates came from new council member Scot Shanks asking each to describe themselves in 5 words. Candidate David Sparks described himself as “honest, organized, faithful, skilled and experienced.” David Foote described himself as “determined, ethical, analytical and having common sense.” The final candidate, Greg Wood answered the question saying that he was “genuine, a simple man, compassionate, logical, not taking himself too seriously and a team player.”

Each candidate was asked about their preferred working hours and if they would participate in events after hours if needed. All indicated they were not regular office hour employees and that they would participate in events outside of regular hours as well.

Mr. Sparks and Mr. Wood have both served as county administrators or managers previously and Mr. Foote has been a director of planning and community development. Foote was asked by councilman Shanks about why they should consider him over the others who had more experience and Foote responded that the other applicants did not have manager experience when they got their first job in that position.

Foote also described himself as successful in many different jobs and that he always tried to do more than expected. “My employers got more than they paid for with me.”

Councilman Harris asked eac candidate about how they handled relations with the press. Mr. Sparks said, “Tell them the truth.” Mr. Foote said that news was an important aspect adding that it used to be newspapers but now includes other outlets and social media. He added that he liked to work in harmony with the media. Mr. Wood said that he had done public affairs work during his time in the air force and said the best thing is to be straight with them, “Don't seem like you're hiding something from them.”

The three candidates all spent some time in Crossville prior to the in person interviews. Mr. Sparks, who has worked in aviation said he enjoyed visiting the airport and in addition he observed lots of retail business, restaurants and manufacturing. He commented on Crossville being the Golf Capital of Tennessee. “This is a nice city that you can be proud of and I'd be proud to work for you,” commented Sparks.

Mr. Foote described Crossville as “Thriving, a place people are moving to, not away from. It is important to be a place people want to be.”

Mr. Wood said that “Crossville was a great place to live.” He said he had looked around and found out some things adding, “None of it scared me off.”

Crossville Resident makes case to council to at least consider hiring David Rutherford back as city manager

With the top six city manager candidate pool down to only 3 left, a letter to council members from Crossville resident Liz Denton has come to light encouraging them to hire David Rutherford back.

Crossville has been without a professional city manager for 9 months since Rutherford was forced out in April 2016. 

Former Crossville city manager David Rutherford

Liz Denton is a Crossville resident who has been involved in the Horizon Initiative but her letter dated January 24 and addressed to all 5 members of the council states she is writing as a concerned and engaged citizen as well as a professional with 30 years experience in the area of organizational psychology 

Denton states, "In two years' worth of my observing both work sessions and Council meetings, it is clear that the different roles of Council (Board of Directors) and City Manager (CEO/President) are not always respected or followed. I question if this occurs because of a lack of clarity or understanding about the differing roles, or, perhaps more problematically, because of a lack of acceptance of this division of roles. Either way, this issue may be part of our city's history of a ridiculous amount of turnover of city managers."

She continues offering the following recommendation, "Since we're at the very beginning of a new year and a new Council and will soon have a new City Manager, professionally I would recommend the Council have a full analysis, discussion and agreement on the specific roles and responsibilities of the Council and the City Manager. There seems to be underlying misunderstanding and disagreement on these issues that by their very existence will create dysfunction and chaos and mistrust on the part of Council members and definitely mistrust on the part of citizens (and, ultimately, it will continue the dysfunctional pattern of city manager turnover)."

Denton said she felt that the manager candidates currently under consideration did not have the experience or qualifications of previous manager David Rutherford who also applied for the position.  She recommended that the council consider Rutherford for the position.  

Denton listed a number of reasons for her recommendation that council consider Rutherford:

• There was standing-room-only attendance during the first special-called suspension meeting and full attendance during the second special-called suspension meeting. This full turnout of concerned citizens occurred despite these two meetings being called with extremely short notice and during the middle of the day, a hardship for those with daytime jobs. And, obvious to anyone listening or paying attention, the overwhelming majority of angry and upset citizens who attended (or were unable to attend but talked extensively about it afterwards) wanted him to stay on board as our City Manager.
• He had an excellent working relationship with the majority of city employees, from department heads to office staff. At political risk to themselves, a significant number of city employees signed a petition to keep him as City Manager.
• His two years experience as our City Manager and familiarity with our entire governance and management system would mean that no time would be wasted with a brand-new person coming on board and having to learn everything and everyone. 
• The majority of citizens I've heard from, including in emails related to a survey I conducted last summer, believed there were no substantive reasons for his termination and who have expressed a wish that he was again our City Manager. You may not realize the anger that his termination generated among the citizenry at large, and I've heard comments related to that ever since and as recent as last week.

Denton talked about the history and her concern about "shady and sweetheart deals in Crossville's past and summed up her letter with the following statement, "Our community needs to heal. We need to collectively develop trust, optimism, citizen engagement and support of our elected officials, and more respect for citizens on the part of Council members. I strongly believe a re-hiring of David Rutherford would help heal the relationship of our Council and our citizenry and would show such good faith on the part of this new Council that the majority of citizens would rally round and support the Council. We could all move forward working together to solve our problems and realize more of the potential of our very wonderful community."

Another Crossville city manager finalist candidate withdraws name from consideration.

Another one of the city manager candidate finalists picked by city council has removed his name from consideration for the position. 

Mark Reeter of Bristol Tennessee Informed HR manager Leah Crockett that he was taking another position and no longer wanted to be considered for the position.  

Of the original 6 candidates chosen as finalists only 3 remain in the running.  Two candidates were interviewed Monday night and the final candidate Greg Wood will be interviewed Tuesday evening at 5 PM.

Members of the Crossville city council interview Steve Foote, candidate for

Crossville city manager Monday night.

Crossville city council to interview four manager candidates Monday and Tuesday. See full resumes here

After interviewing the four candidates for new city manager in a video conference, the council agreed that they liked all of them well enough to bring all four in for face to face interviews that will take place on Monday and Tuesday January 30 and 31.  

Council members did an initial round of video interviews. 

Here candidate Dennis Sparks is interviewed.

The council has set an hour for each interview and will talk to Dennis Sparks on Monday at 5 PM and Steve Foote on Monday at 6 PM.  The meetings are listed as workj sessions so no final decision can be made officially and they will be held in the third floor conference room 317.

Sparks Resume 1

Sparks Resume 2

Foote Resume 1

Foote Resume 2

On Tuesday the council will meet with Greg Wood at 5 PM and Mark Reeter at 6 PM.

Wood Resume 1

Wood Resume 2

Wood Resume 3

Reeter Resume

Four final city manager applicants include another former Crossville manager, Jack Miller

The final four applicants for the Crossville city manager position were filed even though the council has already started interviewing potential candidates via video conferencing.

Two candidates from Crossville applied including former Crossville city manager Jack Miller. Miller, who held the position from 2000 to 2008 makes the third previous city manager who has applied for the job. Miller reports he has been a government management consultant since he left Crossville and prior to serving at Crossville had been city manager at Cordele Georgia, Baxley Georgia and Beaufort South Carolina. Miller has a Ph. D. in Business Administration from California Coast Univ. Others previous Crossville city managers who have applied include Dan Collins and David Rutherford.

Tammie Hyder of Crossville, who currently serves as the finance director of Hilltoppers, Inc has also applied. Hyder previously was an assistant controller for Dana from 2006 to 2009 and as controller and human resources for a Oak Ridge firm from 2003 to 2006 as well as finance director for Rockwood from 2001 to 2003.

Terry Foster of St. Louis MO serves as the Moscow Mills MO police chief since 2009 and previous held the interim chief job there as well as assistant chief and detective. He has an MS in administration.

Col. Brent Moran of Papillion NE has also applied. He currently serves as director of manpower and personnel for the US Strategic Command at Offut Air Force Base with 26 years in military service. Moran has a Masters in Public Administration, work on an MBA and is a licensed pilot.

None of these recent applicants have been chosen for interviews currently, but the council could add candidates as two have dropped out of the initial 6 they selected to talk to.  

City Council's Friday work session for manager interviews moved to 6 PM

In order to allow Crossville council members to attend the visitation for former Crossville Mayor Earl Dean, the time of Friday night's interview with candidate Greg Wood will be at 6 PM and Steve Foote will be interviewed at 7 PM.  The third interviewee Tina Tuggle has removed her name from consideration.  

The visitation for Earl Dean is from 5-7 PM at Bilbrey's Funeral home and this will allow council and city employees time to attend before the meeting.

Two in final 6 city manager candidates picked to interview drop out of the running.

With two work session set for this week council has two less candidates for city manager to choose from.  The council picked 6 candidates to interview by video conference but two of those 6 have notified the city they have pulled their names from consideration.

The two candidates who have withdrawn are Tina Tuggle from Kingston TN who was city manager at Oliver Springs and Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho.

Tonight the council will interview

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia at 5 PM and Mark K. Reeter of Bristol VA at 6 PM.

On Friday the schedule may change but tentatively council will interview Greg Wood at 5 PM and Steve Foote at 6 PM.

Initial interviews for city manager candidates set for January 17 and 20.

Two work sessions have been set for the Crossville city council to hold video conference interviews with the first 6 candidates chosen from those who have submitted resumes.

The council is scheduled to interview three candidates on January 17 and the other three of Friday January 20.  Each interview is set for one hour and the meetings will start at 5 PM each day.

On Tuesday the 17th, the council will talk to Dennis Sparks at 5 PM, Cary Colaianni at 6 PM and Mark Reeter at 7 PM.

On Friday the 20th, the council will talk to Greg Wood at 5 PM, Steve Foote at 6 PM and Tina Tuggle at 7 PM.

A brief bio of each candidate is at this link.

Council picks top 6 candidates to interview for new city manager

A tabulation of the top 6 candidates for the position of Crossville city manager was discussed by the Crossville city council with plans to start the interviewing process to start as soon as next week.

So far a total of 43 candidates have submitted information to the city seeking the position. The deadline for applicants is Monday January 16.

During the discussion at the council meeting several possibilities were discussed but the motion finally made was that the council will make initial contact with the top candidates through some type of video conferencing. The initial interviews are expected to lead to a second round of interviews that will be in person in Crossville.

Councilman Scot Shanks said he hoped that the council would be able to make a vote on the new city manager at the February council meeting.  

Councilman Scot Shanks, right, leads a discussion on the process to select

the next Crossville city manager.  Also pictured left to right are J. H. Graham, 

Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry and Pam Harris.

Each council member sent in their top picks and Human Resources manager Leah Crockett tallied the picks into the top 6 candidates

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA.

Mark K. Reeter of Bristol VA has 20 years experience as a county administrator in Virginia at Washington Co. followed by Bedford Co. He also served as assistant administrator for Washington Co. before he was named County administrator there. He also has a Masters of Public Administration from UT-Knoxville.

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography.

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science.  

Applicants continue seeking the Crossville city manager position.

New candidates for the position of Crossville city manager have submitted resumes.

Mark K. Reeter of Bristol VA has 20 years experience as a county administrator in Virginia at Washington Co. followed by Bedford Co. He also served as assistant administrator for Washington Co. before he was named County administrator there. He also has a Masters of Public Administration from UT-Knoxville.

2 new candidates from Crossville have submitted resumes

Elizabeth Scott currently works as a senior financial analyst for AT & T. She has held that position since 2012. Between 1998 and 2012 she served as a manager for M & P Quality Process.

Sean Francis, also from Crossville has worked in freelance design here since 2013. Prior to that he worked in health care marketing for several groups. He has an MBA from Texas A&M University.

David L. Garrett II of Mt. Juliet TN has many years of experience with Nashville engineering firms since 2012. In the early 2000s he worked for Cumberland Medical Center as a network engineer.

George J. Ducas of Irving Texas has a number of years experience as an architect, construction manager, interior design specialist and financing.  Ducas has a Master's degree in architecture.   

A list of the previous applicants is located HERE. 

Application deadline is Monday January 16.

First Crossville city council work session of 2017 set for January 3 at 5 PM

The first council meeting of the new year comes on January 3 as the council meets in work session in preparation for the regular January meeting a week later.  The meeting will be in room 317, the third floor conference room.

Among the items to be discussed are a proposed special city census, more on the city manager selection process, the shooting sports park and solid waste collection.

During their December meeting the council approved a motion to amend the budget to fund a special census during the coming year. Previous census work has been performed by Dave Warner who previously served on the council and ran for election in November. Warner has been invited to discuss the census with the council and offer some suggestions.

New council member Scot Shanks wants to hire a new city manager sooner rather then later. He will be leading a discussion with the council on a process for interviewing and selecting a new city manager.

With plans for construction to start on the proposed shooting sprots park sometime after March 2017, the council must approve a lease and operating agreement with a non-profit organization that is going to run the operation of the park. That organization is now being formed and the agreements will be on the agenda. A work session on the park was held recently (LINK) with the council and County Mayor Kenneth Carey.

The council will start discussion of the future of solid waste collection for the city. The current contract with Cumberland Waste Disposal expires in August of 2017 and the city has to decide if they want to bid out the contract again or take the collection of solid waste back in-house. There are some issues that need to be resolved before the city can make the decision but a direction will need to be chosen soon so that specs for a contract can be developed or equipment purchased and employees hired.

Also at the work session the council will hear a report on the animal shelter from the group FOCCAS that wants to raise some $500,000 to build a new shelter, a proposal from Butch Smith and Forbus Investments to purchase about 7 acres in the Interchange Business Park for $25,000 an acre and a request for directional signs to Lake Tansi Resort from the property owners association.   

New applicants for Crossville city manager include 2 who previously held the position

4 new City Manager applicants, including two former Crossville city managers have added their names to the applicant pool, now with a total of 38 names for consideration.

Former city manger applicants include the most recent regular city manager David Rutherford as well as former city manager Dan Collins who served as Crossville city manager between October 1993 and January 1997. In addition, two Crossville candidates

David Rutherford of McMinnville Tennessee who served as the last regular Crossville city manager but was dismissed by the previous make up of the city council. Rutherford's cover letter says, “Now that the dynamic of the city council has changed since the election, I would like to be considered for city manager.” Rutherford served as Crossville city manager from September 2013 to April 2016. Prior to that Rutherford served as city administrator at McMinnville from April 2007 to August 2013. He has numerous additional years of experience.

Robert “Dan” Collins another former Crossville city manager currently lives in Troutville Virginia where he serves as a resident engineer for Virginia Department of Transportation for Roanoke, Salem and Vinton, VA. Collins has a Master's degree in applied organization management. He served as city manager at Martinsville VA from July 2004 to April 2007, a city with a population of 16,000 and a budget of $94 million. Collins has also served as city manager at Moberly MO, Smyrna and Elizabethton TN and Buena Vista VA.

Tommy Biddix of Black Mountain NC was an intelligence Analyst for the US Army from 2006 to 2012 and has an Masters of Public Administration from Western Carolina University. More recent experience Biddix served as Assistant purchasing supervisor at Warren Wilson College, administrative planner for Brook KY and equipment coordinator/purchasing for Asheville/Buncombe Technical College.

Michael Hudson of Whitwell TN is currently an intelligence analyst for the FBI in Nashville. Hudson has a BS in political Science/public administration from UT Chattanooga. Hudson served as County Executive for Sequatchie County from 2007 to 2011 and as a county commissioner there from 2006-07. Other experience includes work for the IRS, Homeland Security-TSA and Cigna.

In addition, applicant and former interim police chief Rod Shoap has withdrawn his name for consideration as has Bill Atkinson of Crossville.

It is unclear if new candidates will be submitted to MTAS before a decision on interviews is made.

Previous applicants include:

Calvin Anderson of Coconut Florida currenlty serves a VP and chief audit executive of internal audit business consulting. He's held that position since 2014. Prior to that he served as director and chief internal auditor of the Ghazi District Council in Botswana South Africa. He holds an MPA and a BS in Accounting from Long Island University.

Terence Arrington of Greenville SC whose last job is county administrator for Darlignton Co. South Carolina. Arrignton served in that position from 1-2015 through 8-2016. Arrington has a Masters of Public Administration and is working toward and MBA. He has government experience since 2011 including deputy city administrator of Salisbury MD from 1-2014 to 1-2015.

James E. Ayers II of Asheville NC currently serves as the general services director of Asheville, a position he has held since October 2014. Prior Ayers served as assistant town manager and director of engineering and public works of Bluffton SC from 2008 to 2014. He holds a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a BS in Engineering from Vanderbilt.

Wayne R. Bodie of Orlando Florida currently serves as a captain in the Orange Co. fire and rescue department. He has worked for the department since 2005. Bodie holds an MBA and also works as a fire instructor. He has previous experience in financial services.

Robert G. Bray, Jr. of Pinellas Park Florida is seeking the position after retiring as the Community Planning Director for Pinellas Park Florida between 1995 and 2016.  Prior to that Bray had additional planning experience from 1985-95.  He also has a Masters of Public Adminsitration.  

Carl Brown of Tampa Florida is currently the senior financial analyst for the City of Tampa Florida and has held that position since June 2015. He oversees the fire department and police department budgets. From July 2014 to June 2015 he was a budget and management analyst for the Department of Homeland Security at Santa Fe New Mexico. Mr. Brown has a Masters of Public Administration in city management, economic development and urban planning from East Tennessee State University. He was an actor in Los Angles for 11 years.

David R. Burkett of Apple Valley CA currently serves as the project construction manager of Hesperia CA, a position he's held since 2005.  Previously he served as a project engineer for Yucca Valley CA and he has a BS in Business and Public Administration from University of Phoenix.

Micah Chappell of Moscow Idaho serves as building official for the city of Moscow ID. From 2007 to 20013 he served as supervising building inspector and Sr. plans examiner at Big Bear Lake California. Chappell holds a BS in Administration and Management from Columbia Southern University.  

Mike Chesney of Knoxville holds an MBA and is currently the administrator of the First Baptist Church of Morristown. The church has 70 employees and $3.1 million budget. From 2013 to 2015, Chesney served as the interim city manager of Millington Tennessee. Prior experience included many years of telecommunications and cable management.

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography.

Bobby Goney of Crossville is a registered nurse that has worked in intensive care for the last several years, curently in Sparta and prior for Cumberland Medical Center. He holds an MBA in healthcare administration. In addition, Goney has previous experience in banking and accounting.

Jason Hall of Lyons Georgia where he has served as the current city manager since april of 2013. His previous experience includes serving as city administrator of Varnell Georgia between 2011 and 2013 and a codes enforcement officer for Ringgold Georgia from 2004 to 2011. Hall has an associates degree in education and additional course work in business management

Steven Hicks of Orlando Florida who previously worked as chief compliance officer for MasterCorp, Inc. 

Steve Hill, currently serving in the position of interim city manager after taking early retirement as the city's parks and recreation director in 2015. Hill has a BS in Business Administration from Tennessee Tech.

Frank Horvath of Crossville whose resume lists his current position as business and project manager of Crossville Smiles since January 2013. Mr. Horvath holds an MBA from University of Indianapolis and previously worked as project manager for SciSaves, LLC

James Hubbard of Bedford Texas currently serves and the assistant to the city manager at Colleyville Texas. Hubbard has held that position since January 2016 and prior to that served as the city's parks manager and a management analyst. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Lane Hayden Jones of Bonham Texas served as the deputy chief of staff-CEO of business operations for the Marine Corps community services for Camp Pendleton California. He currently works as a business analyst for the firm of Mason, Norris & Associates.

Daron E. Jordan of Madisonville Kentucky serves as that city's community development director, a position he has held since 2005. He holds a masters degree in organizational management, is a certified economic developer and also operates a consulting firm that specializes in grant writing and administration.

Bert Kenyon of Crossville currently operates Bert Kenyon & Associates, a consulting firm. Kenyon's previous employment includes Sr. VP of Yard World from 2008 to 2013 in Springville Utah. Kenyon has many years of sales and marketing experience and college classes in engineering and business.

Holly Lockhart of Holly Springs NC currently works as an inside sales representative for Boon Adams where she has worked since 2014.  She has experience in sales, consulting and insurance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration and her cover letter says she would consider negotiating a lower salary because she does not have the years experience requested.  

Catrina Maxwell of Milwaukee Wisconsin currently serves as the deputy clerk of the court for Milwaukee county. Ms. Maxwell holds a Master's degree in public service with a specialization in criminal justice administration.

Allen May of Urbanville IA last held the position of city administrator of Coal Valley Illinois. He started serving in that position in 2014. Prior to that position, May has zoning and planning experience back to 1974.

Jennifer James-Mesloh of Marquette MI holds a PhD in public affairs and a Masters in Public Administration.  Since 2013 she has served as assistant professor and program coordinator of the MPA program at Northern Michigan University.  In addition, she has worked for Advanced Research, Inc, a consulting business since 2003 as a consultant to public and non-profit agencies.

Louis A. Ogaard of West Valley City Utah holds a PhD in Botany and has 20 years experience with the state of North Dokota where he manage and environmental restoration program. His latest position was providing environmental support at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Michael P. Putt, Sr. of Memphis seeks the city manager position.  He has worked for the Memphis fire department since 1984 having retired earlier this year as director of fire services, a position he held since 2014.  He served as deputy director of fire services from 2008 to 2014.

Adam R. Rabe of Marengo Iowa. Mr. Rabe has served as director of the Iowa Co. Iowa EMS since 2008. Part of his tenure was as a hospital employee then the EMS service became part of the county operation. In addition, Rabe served 8 years on the Marengo city council, currently serves on the local 911 board and holds a BS in public administration.

Sammy J. Ragsdale of Dodge City, Kansas is the assistant county administrator of Ford County Kansas and from September 2015 to March 2016 he was the chief financial officer of the High Country Council of Governments at Boone County North Carolina. Previous positions incude a city management consultant in Burlington Colorado, City manager of Clifton Texas and a US Navy veteran. He has a BS degree and graduate work towards an MBA.

Christian Saxe currently holds the position of assistant public works director at Spring Hill Tennessee, a position he's held since October of 2015. From 2008 to 2015 Saxe was deputy director of public works for the city of Orange California. He holds a bachelors degree in public administration.

Harry Staven of Richland WA most recently worked as the finance director of Bandon OR and before that as city administrator/planner of Hoona AK.  He worked in municipal management since 1989 at various levels.  He served 6 years on the board of the Richland WA housing authority.  He holds a Masters of Public Administration.

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA.

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science. 

Ryan Schmidt of Nashport Ohio is currently manager of Stone division and landscape design. From 2010 to 2016 her served as general manager of the Vista golf course at Nashport OH. He has a BS in Horticulture and agriculture from Ohio State University.

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.

Previous applicant Jordan Shaw of Franklin TN requested that his name be removed from consideration for the position. 

Council approves taking more applications for city manager

The Crossville city council approved reopening the search for a new city manager and will accept additional applications until January 15 before moving on toward a final choice.

Council discussed doing some video interviews with applicants already received.

Council member Pamala Harris brought up the topic saying that due to a change in the dynamic of the council she moved to to give additional applicants a chance to apply by re-advertising the search and accepting applications through January 15, 2017. Mayor James Mayberry seconded the motion.

Mayor Mayberry said they were not taking any of the previous applicants out of the running and said discussion included that previous applicants would not need to resubmit unless they wanted to update their resume.

Human resources manager Leah Crockett was instructed to contact the previous applicants and let them know what the council's plan was and that they did not have to reapply as they would remain under consideration.

The motion was unanimously approved.    

City manager search extension discussion

Previous stories:

36 Candidates make city manager application deadline.

MTAS ranks city manager candidates.

MTAS Returns ranked list of Crossville city manager candidates.

Municipal Technical Advisory Service consultant Warren Nevad has sent the City of Crossville information on the his recommendations for the top ranked candidates for the position of city manager.  The list has been distributed to the council members and the council could select candidates to interview by phone of video conference according to Nevad's email.  

The candidates were ranked on thier cover letter, education/experience, Resume and similarity to position.  A perfect score would be 16 with a 4 in each category.  The highest score was a 12 recieved by 3 of the candidates.

A timeline for hiring a new manager has not yet been established. 

The candidates and their scores are listed below:

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.  Score 12

Harry Staven of Richland WA most recently worked as the finance director of Bandon OR and before that as city administrator/planner of Hoona AK.  He worked in municipal management since 1989 at various levels.  He served 6 years on the board of the Richland WA housing authority.  He holds a Masters of Public Administration.  Score 12

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.  Score 12

Terence Arrington of Greenville SC whose last job is county administrator for Darlignton Co. South Carolina. Arrignton served in that position from 1-2015 through 8-2016. Arrington has a Masters of Public Administration and is working toward and MBA. He has government experience since 2011 including deputy city administrator of Salisbury MD from 1-2014 to 1-2015.  Score 11

James Hubbard of Bedford Texas currently serves and the assistant to the city manager at Colleyville Texas. Hubbard has held that position since January 2016 and prior to that served as the city's parks manager and a management analyst. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington. Score 11

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography. Score 10

Sammy J. Ragsdale of Dodge City, Kansas is the assistant county administrator of Ford County Kansas and from September 2015 to March 2016 he was the chief financial officer of the High Country Council of Governments at Boone County North Carolina. Previous positions incude a city management consultant in Burlington Colorado, City manager of Clifton Texas and a US Navy veteran. He has a BS degree and graduate work toward an MBA.  Score 10

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA. Score 10

Steven Hicks of Orlando Florida who previously worked as chief compliance officer for MasterCorp, Inc. Score 9

Rod Shoap of Crossville TN has a Masters in Public Administration and is a graduate of the FBI Academy.  He served as interim Crossville police chief until July 2016.  Previously Mr. Shoap served as Maury County magistrate, director of planning for the Williamson County sheriff's department and sheriff of Lee County Florida after many years working for that department.  Score 9

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science. Score 9

In addition, the current interim city manager Steve Hill made the list with a score of 9.