T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Mark Peterson from MGT of America spoke to the Marshalltown city council last Monday night about the search for a new full-time city administrator and how the council would like the process to unfold.

As of April 1, the second search for a new full-time Marshalltown city administrator in less than a year has officially begun, and consultant Mark Peterson with MGT of America (formerly GovHR) spoke to the city council during last Monday night’s meeting to introduce himself and dive into what his company hopes to find in the candidate who will fill the position.

After the resignation of Jessica Kinser last May, the council opted not to work with an outside consulting firm and ultimately hired Joe Gaa, who lasted just 4 ½ months before his resignation in January. Since then, Mayor Joel Greer has held the title of acting/interim city administrator, and he brought Kinser back on a contract basis to assist with the budget process before she was eventually hired as the city administrator in Faribault, Minn. He has also utilized the services of former City Finance Director Cindy Kendall, who is currently working in a consulting role.

Peterson, an Ankeny native, told the council the administrator hire is one of the most important decisions it will make and shared a bit of his own background working for municipalities in Iowa and Illinois, including a stint as the city manager in Normal before taking a job with GovHR and moving over to the recruitment side.

Like most other positions, the number of applicants for city manager/administrator positions has declined steadily in recent years — from between 60 and 70 when Peterson started to between 20 and 30 today — which he attributed to less young people entering the public service field and current administrators being less likely to move due to “vitriolic and sometimes confrontational politics” trickling down from the national to the local level.

Despite the challenges, Peterson hopes to present the council with a strong pool of candidates and hire the one who will best suit the city’s wants and needs.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, and I want you to be honest with me. But you’re driving the bus because you’re gonna be held accountable with the decision, and you have to live with the decision. So you have to be comfortable with the process, and I’ll do my best to help you through that,” he said.

From there, Peterson formally kicked off the “kickoff meeting” and ran through several key points, including which “stakeholders” should be involved in the hiring process beyond the mayor and council, what skills and attributes MGT and the council should be looking for in an ideal candidate and which venues the city should use to advertise the position with the goal of having it posted by April 23 and setting a May 24 application deadline.

Generally, Peterson said, there’s a flurry of applications at the beginning and the end of the window. The goal, in his view, is not to hide the city’s blemishes but to paint an honest picture of Marshalltown’s strengths and weaknesses to attract the right candidate for the job.

He then dove into his own process for interviewing hopefuls, reviewing their employment history, finding any red flags that could be “problematic” and dividing them into tiers. When Peterson mentioned that MGT will conduct a “full blown” background check, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff asked if the Marshalltown Police Department would still need to do its own as it has in the past. Peterson responded that they could go either way on that, but because they hire a third-party specializing in said checks, he would recommend waiting until they have whittled the field down to one or two candidates before bringing the police department into the fold.

“It’s not typical, but you can do whatever you want to do. If you want them involved, you can get them involved,” Peterson said. “That’s really ultimately your call, but I think our background investigation process is very thorough, and again, we hire a third party (where) that’s what they do.”

Once finalists are determined, the formal interviews in Marshalltown can begin, and additional testing can be implemented if the council deems it necessary. The goal is to settle on a candidate who can garner unanimous council approval, and from there, an employment offer will be made with room for negotiation on certain items.

Peterson stopped to ask if the council had any questions after presenting for around a half hour, and there were none at the time. The current city ordinance requires a Master’s degree, and Peterson, who holds one himself, said that while he didn’t feel it made him a better city manager, he was OK with keeping the requirement in place if the council wanted to do so. He also sought clarification on the amount of previous experience needed, noting that the difference between five and 10 years is quite substantial.

The consultant sought to gauge whether the council was “reasonably aligned” or “all over the map” on what they were seeking in their next city administrator, and each councilor had a chance to share their thoughts.

Councilor Jeff Schneider cited “organization” as well as “a desire to work hard” and being “tireless.”

“There’s a lot of balls in the air at any one point in time, and calling her quits and not coming back until the morning probably isn’t acceptable for this type of role,” he said.

Councilor Greg Nichols agreed with Schneider on organization and also felt the candidate should be informed of rules and regulations as well as analytical in their thinking. Councilor Gary Thompson wants someone who is loyal to the city — putting us before them, in his words — able to check their ego at the door, truthful and possessing the ability to multitask.

Ladehoff said he would like an innovative city administrator who can adapt to modern challenges and echoed the need for organization and communication — with the mayor and council, various groups within the community, county officials and local media outlets.

“To be open and transparent, I think we need to say what we do and do what we say,” Ladehoff said.

Councilor Barry Kell generally agreed with the other characteristics mentioned and added accountability, indicating a desire for a leader who would be willing to take bullets for others or be “a single throat to choke.” He also mentioned innovation, communication and strategic planning. Councilor Mark Mitchell said the city needed “a well-grounded man,” “a work truck” who isn’t scared to get down and dirty and an open-minded candidate.

Peterson noted that because of the city’s “lean” staff, the administrator job is a working position, not just a delegating position.

“It’s not uncommon in a city this size that an administrator’s gotta be a producer, not just a delegator, although delegation is also important,” he said.

The most common skills Peterson said he hears a desire for are a strong understanding of budget and finance, a firm grasp of human resources and economic development as “everybody wants a rainmaker” who can grow the tax base to address the monetary constraints cities face. He admitted that it’s a tall order to find someone who checks all of those boxes, but if they go into the process with a clear understanding of what they want, they have a better chance of finding the best possible candidate.

A residency requirement makes sense for Marshalltown, Peterson felt, especially with relocation assistance being offered. He liked the automobile allowance, vacation, deferred compensation, professional development and severance package benefits, which he touted as great selling points.

Peterson stressed that all of the councilors should be involved in the process and would give them a chance to decide how much senior city staff should be involved and be allowed to provide input. In discussing which other community leaders and stakeholders should have a say, he admitted he wasn’t a fan of public meet and greet events.

“We can do that, and there are city councils that feel it’s important to get the community involved in the decision. I’m just not sure it’s helpful to all of you,” Peterson said.

He added that while the public may get to know the candidates on a surface level, he wasn’t sure it ultimately provided much information on their backgrounds. Peterson shared an example of a city where such an event was held with four finalists, and no one showed up for it, not even the mayor.

His final request of the night was to maintain confidentiality so as not to jeopardize the current employment of any of the candidates — once the names are out there, they can spread “like wildfire.” In one instance, such a situation unfolded where a candidate was terminated when his employer found out he was interested in another position.

Peterson was set to meet privately with councilors on Tuesday to discuss the next steps, and the meeting was finally adjourned after over 50 minutes of discussion.

Greer, who was not in attendance last Monday, told the T-R he was happy to see the process kick off and hoped this search would lead to finding the right candidate once and for all.

“I’m pleased that we are using a well-respected search firm to help find our next administrator. Meanwhile, Cindy Kendall is such a big help that I feel confident we can keep the ship on the right course until we have found her or him,” Greer said. “It is unfortunate Cindy wants to retire instead of be that person, because she would be perfect for the job.”

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.