This morning (Tuesday, Oct. 13) council had the pleasant duty of announcing that Ryan Eggleston was our selection as new city manager. The appropriate motion was made and passed to officially appoint Ryan and the necessary paperwork signed.
Ryan is to start Nov. 9th. He is enthusiastic about coming to Oil City. In part, it was his enthusiasm that made him stand out among the candidates.
I know much of his background and the details of the search will be outlined in the local news media, but I did want to at least touch on them.
Ryan comes to Oil City from Greenville, where he has served as manager of the borough for the past four years where. Greenville, a financially stressed community, presented a number of challenges. By all accounts, Ryan met them head-on and admirably. He gained a reputation as a fiscally responsible, innovative and technologically savvy leader. Those are talents and skills we need here in Oil City.
Everyone on council put a great deal of time and effort into the search for a new manager. I’m personally so glad we chose to obtain the services of Peter Marshall to help us work through the process and find the very best candidate for Oil City.
In my mind, Peter’s assistance was invaluable.
As for the process of applying, applicants initially submitted their resumes to Peter, who screened them and then presented council with those he felt most qualified. From that pool and in consultation with Peter six candidates were selected for interviews by council and evaluation by city department heads.
Following the interviews, council invited Ryan and another candidate back for a second interview and a tour of the city accompanied by city administrators and council. The tour allowed us to get a much better feel for the candidates and them for us. We wanted to be sure whomever we selected would be a good fit for Oil City. Ryan fit.
Ryan is going to face a lot of challenges here. I think he is up to them all, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.
I hope everyone welcomes Ryan, his wife Julia and their 18-month-old son Connor with the same enthusiasm he is showing for Oil City.
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12 comments:
$7000 to hire someone from Titusville. Sounds about right for this city council.
"By all accounts, Ryan met them head-on and admirably. He gained a reputation as a fiscally responsible, innovative and technologically savvy leader. Those are talents and skills we need here in Oil City."
What exactly does this mean? There are NO specifics, nothing measureable!
John, if you can't make a qualified decision without the help of a consultant, get the heck off of council.
Well, the critics are out today and I'm not too popular.
To the first and third person to comment:
Obviously, your minds are made up and we disagree. I suggest if you feel that strongly and the issue is that important to you, do not hide behind the anonymous posting. Come forward and either publicly run for city council or find someone you can back and publicly support them. Frankly, given the anonymous posting, your comments are cheap shots.
I have continued to allow anonymous commenting to encourage the broadest range of opinion and discussion possibly, but I do expect more than snide and/or bitter criticisms.
As for use of the consultant, I stand by that approach. It served the process well for multiple reasons. One, he worked us through an exercise that quickly clarified and articulated our real needs in a new manager. It sounds simple, but I assure you it was not.
He was able to screen the applicants in a much more timely and professional manner than we would have been able to accomplish alone. He brought professional city manager experience to the interview process. And there is a whole lot more.
I will remind everyone that it is quite common for the private sector to use a consultant or “headhunter” when attempting to replace a top level executive. There is a reason for that.
To the second person:
The comments simply reflect what we, or I learned about Ryan and my assessment. I'm not exactly sure what you want in terms of "measurables," which by the way is the newest management buzz word.
I can tell you Greenville was declared a distressed municipality under Act 47 in 2002. Ryan walked into a fiscal mess when he became manager some four years ago. Greenville is now in much better fiscal shape. Officials in Greenville give him a great deal of credit for that.
He successfully negotiated contracts with three bargaining units and the relationship between elected officials/administrators is reported to be much better now than prior to his arrival.
He developed a new city Web site and oversaw upgrades to the city’s computer systems, something we could definitively use.
Greenville’s elected officials and community leaders said Ryan was an extremely open, keeping everyone fully informed.
Are those measurables? I don’t know. I do know I liked what I learned.
I'm excited to learn about our new city manager! I look forward to seeing what he will accomplish for Oil City. It's great to see the city valuing young people and the knowledge they can offer.
Seems like a good choice, Council-keep it up!
Wow, too bad it took so many comments before there was a welcome. Ryan, if you're reading this, a warm welcome to you and your family! Oil City is a great town with a lot of challenges right now. It's worth your energy!
I hope Ryan reads this so he can see what people are concerned about.
I don't think hiring a consultant is wrong but I'm not sure you got much bang for your buck. However, I hope Ryan whips this town into shape. Best of luck to him. He has his work cut out for him in this town!
John,
Can't help but mention my wife and I told you the same thing about the anonymous postings. I have recieved those same "cheap shots" right here on this very site from Anonymous.
It sounds to me not so much the use of a consultant but the constant use of consultants in every facet of our current city government, or boards, or a task force to make a decision, that makes the populous mad. I could be wrong, but just reading through your boards and talk on the street, and I would say I'm close.
That said I have no envy for your position. Other than my family losing the election may turn out to be the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Dan Robertson
Dan,
You and your wife did warn about allowing anonymoust postings. In many ways you were/are correct. I'm still going to allow them simply in hopes of getting wider representation, but I am going to begin editing a bit more harshly.
What I think is missed in the discussion of the use of consultants is that often you have to go through that process to open up the state/federal vaults that provide the money to do some of what you want to do.
Believe me, I understand your last comment.
"What I think is missed in the discussion of the use of consultants is that often you have to go through that process to open up the state/federal vaults that provide the money to do some of what you want to do."
Would you please explain how this worked with respect to hiring a new city manager?
Obviously, nothing with respect to the selection of a new city manager. The comment I made was in reference to some of the general criticisms of hiring consultants and doing studies.
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