Crossville city manager candidates now up to 8. Deadline still 6 weeks off.

The search for a new Crossville city manager is off and running with 8 letters of interest and resumes received by the city so far. The deadline for those interested applying is September 30, 2016.

The applicants so far have a variety of backgrounds from a PhD in Botany to the former city manager of Oliver Springs, Tennessee. Copies of the letters of interest and resumes are being distributed to the council members as they come into the city's human resources department.

Crossville city hall building

Interested applicants so far in alphabetical order include:

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.  

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

The only local applicant so far is Frank Horvath 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

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.

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.

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.

W. Jordan Shaw has been the assistant director of information technology for Franklin Tennessee since February 2015. Shaw holds a Doctorate of Business Administration from Argosy University.

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.   

Resumes for Crossville city manager applicants starting to come in--Application deadline September 30

Advertisements have gone out for the position of full time Crossville city manager and have been run in local media as well as posted to the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) site.  The deadline for applications to be submitted is September 30, 2016.

Several resumes have already been received by the city and copies distributed to council members.

The position description follows:
POSITION OPEN
CITY MANAGER
CITY OF CROSSVILLE

The City of Crossville (pop 11,246) is seeking letters of interest and resumes for the position of City Manager. Starting annual salary is market competitive DOQ/DOE (minimum $69,166.37, maximum $110,572.83). A benefit package is offered including group health, dental and life, retirement 401A, vacation and sick leave provisions. This position is under the general guidance of the Crossville City Council consisting of a Mayor and four (4) councilmembers. The City Manager shall be responsible to the City Council for the administration of all City affairs placed in his/her charge by/under City Charter. The City of Crossville will operate under a general fund budget of $20,626,000 for the 2016/2017 fiscal year. The City Manager is responsible for overseeing the annual budget and exercises responsibility for planning, organizing and leading, through Department Supervisors, the activities of 170-180 full time employees. Employee services are provided through the departments of City Administration, Finance, Central Staff, Police, Fire, Public Works, Engineering, Recreation, Marketing, Human Resources, Water Resources and Customer Service. The City of Crossville is seeking an individual that is accomplished, assertive and has current knowledge of municipal government and economic development; is able to interface with the public, media, industry heads and a variety of governmental boards and organizations. Requirements for this position are as follows:
• Graduation from an accredited four year college, or university, with a major in Public Administration, Business Administration, Economics, or related field.
• Five to ten years of increasingly responsible experience in a general business environment, of which three years must have been in a responsible administrative, supervisory or consultative position.
• A Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA), Business Administration or related field is preferred, but not required.
• Able to pass a background check, post-employment offer physical and drug screening.
• Residency within Crossville within six (6) months of the date of hire.

Reasonable relocation expense reimbursement may be negotiated.

Letters and resumes are to be submitted to Leah Crockett, Human Resources Administrator, City of Crossville, 392 North Main Street, Crossville, TN 38555 or leah.crockett@crossvilletn.gov. Letters and resumes will be accepted until September 30, 2016. Qualified candidates will be contacted with an invitation for interview. The City of Crossville is an EEO/Affirmative action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, color, disability or national origin.

Crossville city council votes to move forward on hiring a new city manager.

A majority of the Crossville city council approved with moving forward to hire a new city manager without waiting until after the November council election as previously approved.

The agenda item on the special called meeting Friday July 22 was proposed by mayor pro-tem Pamala Harris and she said she had a comment to make at the start of the agenda item.

Council members Danny Wyatt, Mayor James Mayberry, Pamala Harris and Jesse Kerley

Said Harris, “It has come to my attention that there are rumors floating around regarding this agenda item. I will caution you not to listen to rumors. There are some people who thrive on rumors and conspiracy theories and who frankly have harmed our city by spreading misinformation and making accusations against this council and other citizens that are unfounded. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm tired of this nonsense. So I'm going to ask everyone to join me in rejecting the rumors and gossip. Let's get on with the business of this city and make Crossville an even better place than we know it is today.”

Harris did not specify who and what the rumor was she was discussing, but in one email that circulated prior to the meeting, councilman Pete Souza wrote in an email Monday July 18 that there was a rumor that J. H. Graham was going to apply. Wrote Souza, “That would truly be a coincidence. I look forward to see how this is going to play out, especially the reaction from our constituents.

While Mr. Souza advised the council that he would be unable to attend a called meeting scheduled for the week, the meeting was scheduled and Mr. Souza was absent.

Ms. Harris moved on with her item saying, “The hiring of a city manger is incredibly important. I personally would like to take my time when reviewing resumes and vetting candidates to ensure that who ever we hire is qualified, is a leader, and desires to work well with the full council, and I stress full council, and wants to become a part of our community.”

Harris moved to rescind the previous action of April 14, 2016 to wait until after the election to recruit and hire a new city manager. Harris' motion received a second from councilman Jesse Kerley.

Mayor James Mayberry asked city attorney Will Ridely on the necessary vote count to rescind a previous motion and Ridley told him because the item was properly listed on the agenda only a simple majority was necessary but under Robert's rules, if it was not listed on the agenda it would require a 2/3 majority.

Ms. Harris said that she did not know if the city could hire a manager before the election, but she wanted to start the process. Councilman Wyatt said that at least three members of the current council would still be on the council after November so he didn't see it as an issue.

Mr. Kerley said the only reason he supported a delay in looking for a manager was to see where the recall effort went. Said Kerley, “Since it failed miserably, I think it's time to move on.”

The motion passed with all members present voting in favor.

Harris then moved to move forward with contacting the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) for assistance with recruiting a city manager, and accepting resumes over the next 60 days, and to direct the city attorney to review and edit the current job description, and the council is to be given copies of the resumes as they are received.

Councilman Danny Wyatt gave the second on the motion and asked about using MTAS and Mayor Mayberry read from information provided by MTAS about the services they provide. Those services are listed below.

Motion was approved with all four council members present voting in favor.   

Video of the city manager discussion during the called meeting held July 22, 2016

SERVICES MTAS CAN PROVIDE TO THE CITY:

Advertisements  

• Offering suggestions on where to advertise 
• Placing notices on the MTAS website 
• Requesting other state’s city management associations to post job notices 
• Using MTAS consultants to help recruit former colleagues and current and past clients for positions 

Applications 

• Accepting applications 
• Handling application correspondence 
• Ranking applications 
• Supplying a ranking system of applications for the elected officials to use based on the advertisement and/or qualities the board desires to have in an administrator 

Interviews 

• Facilitating discussions with the governing body on narrowing the list of applicants to invite for an interview 
• Scheduling interviews with candidates 
• Writing interview questions specifically tailored for the town that address current issues, criteria specified in the advertisement, and core competencies 
• Supplying a ranking system for interviews 
• Conducting and ranking interviews with a senior staff member to assist the governing body in making its decision on who to bring back for a second interview 
• Supplying a list of generic interview questions for the governing body to select from 
• Proctoring interviews 
• Providing cost estimates of hosting interviews 
• Developing and proctoring assessment centers 

Employment 

• Providing sample employment contracts for the governing body to consider 
• Providing comparable salary and benefit information