City Administrator Search
Public Input Sought on City Administrator Candidates
The City of Urbana is seeking community input during the final phase of hiring a new City Administrator.The four finalists for the position will be in town for interviews with the Mayor, city staff, and city council members on Monday, March 19 and Tuesday, March 20. There will be opportunities for the public to weigh in online and at a public form on Tuesday evening.The schedule for public participation is given below.
Public Survey
Community members are invited to share questions and opinions through a survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UrbanaCityAdmin. Survey responses will be collected anonymously. Responses are requested by Monday, March 19, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Paper copies may be obtained by calling the City’s Human Resources office at (217) 384-2459. The public may submit questions for the Candidate Forum through this survey.
Public Forum
The community is invited to attend a forum with the four finalists for the City Administrator position on Tuesday, March 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the ILEAS Training Center auditorium, located at 1701 East Main Street in Urbana. The candidates will answer questions during this moderated event.
The event will also be available through:
- UPTV: the forum will be broadcastlive on UPTV, which is available locally on Comcast Xfinity channels 6 & 1096, i3 Broadband channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse channel 99.
- Facebook: watch the forum live on the City of Urbana Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UrbanaPublicTV/
- Twitter: follow the live tweets on twitter.com/cityofurbana
Candidate biographies and additional resources can be found here.
FAQs
About the Job
The primary role of the City Administrator is to assist the mayor.
The Administrative Officer position was codified in 1975. According to the ordinance, qualifications for the position are to be substantially equivalent to that of a city manager, including educational and professional training or experience in administrative and management principles and procedures.
What is the difference between a City Administrator and City Manager?
A city administrator reports directly to and serves at the discretion of the mayor, while a city manager reports directly to a city council.
If the City were a corporation, the mayor would be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is responsible for guiding the overall direction of the organization and makes final decisions. The City Administrator would be the Chief Operations Officer (COO), who is responsible for carrying out day-to-day operations but does not necessarily have ultimate decision-making authority.
What will be the City Administrator’s roles and responsibilities within the City government?
The City Administrator will oversee the overall operations of the City. Responsibilities will include:
- Providing organizational leadership;
- Serving as liaison to the Mayor, City Council, and City departments to establish appropriate allocation and prioritization of organizational resources
- Working with managers to develop standards on professionalism and best practices;
- Working with City staff to develop and implement economic development tools, strategies, programs, and services.
- Assists the Mayor and City Council with developing and updating goals and policies; develops and maintains a strategic plan to ensure implementation of City Council goals; coordinates the execution of strategic initiatives; recommends long-range plans for City service programs and develops specific proposals for action on current and future City needs.
About the Search Process
Why did the City use an executive recruitment firm?
Attracting a highly qualified and diverse pool of applicants was critically important, particularly since the position has been vacant for 11 years. One advantage that executive search firms offer is existing relationships with potential candidates.
The City selected Slavin Management Consultants using a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The announcement was advertised on the City website and in the News-Gazette. Qualified vendors were invited to submit proposals from July 17 - July 31, 2017, and four proposals were received. Each offered a unique approach, and all were highly competitive and well received. In the end, we felt that the Slavin proposal offered the best match to the selection criteria outlined in the RFP.
What did the recruitment process involve?
Advertisements were placed in a wide variety of outlets, such as the Illinois Municipal League and municipal leagues in surrounding states, International City/County Management Association, and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. Applications were accepted through December 8, 2017, and 68 resumes were submitted for the position. After an initial screening, 12 semi-finalist candidates submitted written responses to an extensive questionnaire. Five candidates were invited to participate in video interviews. Interview questions covered candidates’ experience with topics such as economic development, building collaboration and consensus, and organizational leadership. Four candidates have been selected to move forward to in-person interviews on March 19th and 20th.
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