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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 7, 2006 Search for city admin is on track Other positions await a decision on top city spot By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings With the search for a new Ashland city administrator moving along quickly, current City Administrator Gino Grimaldi may leave Ashland sooner than expected. In November, city officials announced Grimaldi had accepted the job of city manager in Springfield, where he had worked as assistant city manager for 14 years before coming to Ashland in 2003. Grimaldi had initially planned to stay in Ashland through June. But a new city administrator could be hired as soon as the end of March or beginning of April, Grimaldi said. “Then I would leave. They don’t need two people,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to have two city administrators. If the new person wanted me to stay on for a little while to help with the transition, I would. But I’m always just a phone call or e-mail away.” The application period for Ashland city administrator closes Feb. 3, according to Ashland Human Resources Manager Tina Gray. Finalists could be identified in mid-February, with interviews in early March, Grimaldi said. Other than providing some administrative support if needed, Grimaldi said he is adopting a hands-off approach to the search for the new city administrator. He said he does not feel it would be appropriate for him to be involved in the search. “I’m not playing a role in the recruitment process,” he said. Mayor John Morrison, who appoints the city administrator and city department heads with Ashland City Council confirmation, said the city will set up community search committees to aid in the process. Search committees typically are involved with candidate interviews and other aspects of searches for top city staff members. “We will put together committees, I expect, much as we have done in the past,” Morrison said. “Past practices have given us pretty good people.” Meanwhile, the search for a community development director is on hold until the new city administrator is found, he said. “If we look at the big pattern, it’s better that the new city administrator be given an opportunity to take part in the search,” Morrison said. “Then we have a team fit as well as a community fit.” Former Ashland Community Development Director John McLaughlin accepted a position as community development director for Truckee, Calif., in summer 2005. City officials had identified the community development director from Vail, Colo., as their top pick. But he turned down the job, citing high housing costs and probable difficulties for his wife, a teacher, in finding a job with the Ashland School District in light of declining enrollment. The city also has resumed its search for an information technology director to head the debt-ridden Ashland Fiber Network and manage the city’s internal computer systems. That search had been on hold because of uncertainty over AFN’s fate. Then on Dec. 20, the city council decided to explore selling AFN, spinning it off as a nonprofit and having businesses pay to sell telecommunications services over AFN’s infrastructure. Grimaldi said the city previously had identified three top candidates for the IT director position. All three are still interested, although AFN’s ultimate future is still unknown, he said. Plans call for the candidates to come to Ashland on Jan. 23 for interviews with city councilors, city staff, members of the local technical community and information technology professionals from other jurisdictions. There will be two interview panels, Grimaldi said. If the city no longer had AFN, a person would still be needed to manage the city government’s computer systems, according to Grimaldi. “The piece that never goes away is we need a network for the city,” he said. Normally, the salary range for a city department head is $82,116 to $92,292 per year, with benefits costing about another 45 percent of the salary, according to Gray. However, the salary for the IT director may not be in that range and will be negotiated, Grimaldi said. Some community members have questioned whether a person who ends up only managing the city’s internal computer systems should receive a department head-level salary. But others have said the city would not be able to attract a dynamic, effective leader for AFN with the department head salary range. The budgeted salary range for the city administrator position is $105,900 to $125,064 per year, while the range for the community development director is $82,116 to $92,292 per year, according to Gray. Those salaries also may need to be negotiated if candidates find it difficult to afford to live in Ashland, she said. Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or [email protected]. 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