City administrator candidates to meet public

The public can meet the five finalists for the Washington City Administrator position this afternoon. The Washington Free Public Library will host a meet-and-greet today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Washington State Bank meeting room on the second floor.

The five candidates all have experience as city administrators. Candidate Deborah K. Nier is the former city administrator of Marengo, Ill. Danny L. Gifford is the city administrator of West Burlington. Brian W. Weuve is the city manager of Iowa Falls. Brent D. Hinson is the city administrator of Garner. James F. Bowden is the village administrator of Channahon, Ill.

After the meet-and-greet Friday, the candidates will appear before the council for individual interviews Saturday. The interviews will be conducted in a closed session. At the July 20 meeting of the city council, the councilors announced that the new city administrator would begin work on Oct. 1.

City Clerk Illa Earnest said the council will interview all the candidates once and then whittle their choices down to two or three candidates. The council will conduct a second round of interviews with those finalists that afternoon.

Friday afternoon is the first time the councilors will see the finalists. An executive search firm chose the five finalists for the council. In all, 91 persons from 30 states applied for the position.

The council learned it would need to find a new administrator when former administrator Dave Plyman announced April 1 that he would leave at the end of May. Plyman is now the city administrator in Rochelle, Ill.