Riverside hires new city administrator

RIVERSIDE — Wednesday night marked two special occasions that will impact future residents in the city of Riverside.

The first was the mark of T minus 40 years before Earth’s first contact with alien life on April 5, 2063 according to Star Trek canon, a piece of trivia made relevant by the town’s claim as the future birthplace of franchise protagonist Capt. James T. Kirk.

The second was the hire of Cole Smith as the new Riverside City Administrator. He will begin work May 1.

“I hope that you do your best to help our city grow and develop in a lot of different ways,” Council Person Edgar McGuire said to the finalist before the vote. “I’m really excited to work with you.”

Smith is an atypical candidate in a few ways.

The 23-year-old from Mt. Pleasant was previously the executive director of ISU Extension’s Louisa Development Group, a nonprofit in the neighboring county. He has a degree in marketing with a minor in entrepreneurship from the University of Northern Iowa, but no prior experience as a city administrator. He has not watched an episode of Star Trek, but said he plans to.

Mayor Allen Schneider said Louisa Development’s Group’s frequent involvement in local government affairs would help orient Smith as he takes the reins in Riverside City Hall.

“We had a number of candidates for this position, it was a difficult decision,” he said. “We thought it would be relatively easy for him to get himself acclimated to the position here.”

Smith, for his part, said he was drawn to Riverside’s size, sense of community and potential for growth.

A visit to the city weeks before his job interview locked in that enthusiasm.

“It was clear that there’s this buzz around the community, people are optimistic, people are very happy to be here,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunity in this area, in this community, and that’s something I wanted to be a part of. It’s a really exciting place to be.”

The employment agreement for Smith has a few tweaks from that of the last city administrator. For one, it requires that he live within 20 miles of city limits, rather than strictly within them, a stipulation of the previous version that became a point of contention for the office last year.

In another shift, Smith will start at an $80,000 salary, with annual raises until the pay reaches $92,000 in 2026, assuming the council finds no reason to withhold an increase. For comparison, previous Administrator Christine Yancey’s salary was $80,233.24 as of last summer, according minutes from a June 27 special meeting.

The vote to approve Smith’s employment agreement was 4-1, with Council Person Tom Sexton voting against, a decision he attributed to the contract’s pay scale.

“I’ve got nothing against Cole, I think he’s going to do us a great job,” Sexton said. “I’m just against setting pay increases.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com