Luverne city administrator search narrows to four candidates

With the pending retirement of City Administrator John Call in December, the Luverne City Council is working on a transition strategy to replace him.
The Luverne City Administrator Search Committee reviewed 30 resumes and applications for the position, and following seven first-round interviews, four have been recommended as finalists.
They include Rebecca Schrupp of Canby, Erik Hansen of Tracy, Lee Mattson of Waseca and Jill Wolf of Adrian. Luverne City Council members reviewed their resumes and information at Tuesday’s meeting to determine the next steps.
This summer the council members decided against paying an outside agency to recruit candidates and instead formed a City Administrator Recruitment Committee.
Committee members include Craig Oftedahl, Mike Cox, Ashley Kurtz, Tim Gust, Caroline Thorson, Mayor Baustian and Connie Connell.
“It has been a very thorough process and time-consuming,” Oftedahl said.
“It has been an interesting experience and very educational.”
Committee members worked on updated job description, position profile, salary range, and geographic scope for the recruitment of a new city administrator.
They asked current department heads what traits and qualities they’d like to see in the new city administrator, and they also surveyed city leaders about knowledge, skills, abilities and minimum training and experience they wanted in a new city administrator.
A starting salary range of $120,000 to $145,000 is recommended, considering the city's internal pay equity and pay plan along with outside market trends.
City Clerk Jessica Mead has also been working with the League of Minnesota Cities and other professional development colleagues to establish a recruitment plan.
Call formally announced his retirement at the May 24 city council meeting.
“The last 17 years in Luverne have been the highlight of my 35-year career in city management,” Call wrote in his resignation letter to the council.
“With a progressive mayor and council and highly competent department heads and employees, we have been able to move the city forward in many areas of economic development, housing and quality of life while at the same time delivering great city services on a daily basis.”
Call, 63, said he and his wife, Brenda, will continue living in Luverne, and he will work with the council to ensure a smooth transition to the next administrator.