City searches for new finance director

Monday, July 9, 2012

Jefferson City has begun searching for a new finance director with current director Steve Schlueter set to retire at the end of September.

Read additional details in our newspaper or e-Edition. Newspaper subscribers: Click on an e-Edition article and log in using your current account information at no extra charge. For e-edition help, e-mail circ@newstribune.com. Click here to purchase the full version of archived articles.

City Administrator Nathan Nickolaus said the application process closed a few weeks ago and the city received fewer than 20 applications.

“We were kind of disappointed that there weren’t more applicants,” Nickolaus said.

He said none of the applicants are current city staff members, but some are local people.

Nickolaus said a committee has been established to review applications and interview candidates. The committee is made up of three City Council members, four city staff members and a city auditor, who acts as a nonvoting adviser.

But the process isn’t moving very quickly, he said, and there is a chance a candidate won’t be selected by the time Schlueter retires.

“It’s going a little slowly,” Nickolaus said. “It may be that we don’t have one in line exactly when (Schlueter) leaves.”

More like this story

PatsyDecline 10 months, 2 weeks ago

No reason at all 20 applicants can not be interviewed within one M-F week.

Narrow it down to handful. Run some background. Second interview. Make a decision and an offer.

That shouldn't take more than two M-F weeks.

So it closed "a few weeks ago"....and “We were kind of disappointed that there weren’t more applicants,” .....yet it apparently is going slowly.

Got to love government work......right up there with military intelligence and jumbo shrimp.

John 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Your response is short-sighted. You seem to assume that those who need to do the interviewing have nothing on their calendars in any one week except time to interview prospective emplyees.

Not having seen the resumes, how can you assume that it is such a simple process to "narrow it down to handful [sic["?

Remember, more than one or two people are responsible for reviewing the resumes and interviewing the prospects.

Your comment about the military is way out of line and sounds to be from someone who knows NOTHING about the military, its functions, its needs, and the intelligence community -- the intelligence community . . you know . . . those who found Bin Laden (NO, not Obama).

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Really, this sort of thing is not rocket science even when people try to pretend like it is. The city has a personnel department that could do the initial screening and forward the very few qualified candidates' information to the selection committee.

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from the lack of applications. I know at least one hundred locals who are fully capable of doing that job, but fitting in with the city hall group would be the big issue for a lot of them.

JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago

The city probably cannot compete with the bloated salaries that state government pays for its accountants. No wonder they cannot attract any good applicants- if they are any good at all, state government snatches them up and pays them the fat cat salaries and Cadillac benefits packages.

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

You'd better believe it! We're not 50 out of 50 by accident.

JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Not when they get a bailout and get out of debt without paying. You just know the feds will just print some more money to bail them out and we were the stupid ones to balance our budgets and pay our bills.

PatsyDecline 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Right....I'm sure their calendars have been chock full of meaningful work for the good City of Jefferson.

If the position isn't important enough to fill with a bit of urgency that only means it is just another do nothing government job.

You can't have it both ways.

PS...Bin Laden?? Obama?? What?? LOL

You seem to have an awful thin skin for a tough military intel guy....LOL!

John 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Did not write that I was an "intel" guy.

I wrote that your comment was short-sighted and that your comment about military intelligence is from an obviously "know-nothing" background.

Again; without knowing what is in the resumes, and without knowing asnything about the applicants, it is HIGHLY possible that you cannot just skim through them and eliminate half or three-fourths of them. It is POSSIBLE that ALL of them might have to be interviewed, at least via telecom, to eliminate any (or all) of them. That takes time. Then, those who meet minimums will have to be be flown in to Jefferson City for their interview by MULTIPLE people (city mgr, possibly council members) and then an agreement has to be reached. This process could take much more than a few weeks. You seem to have a pretty poor opinion of government employees. Is it your opinion that they are poor employees in general and that most of them fill "do nothing" jobs?

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

There is a fairly well-known set of skills and a fairly well-known body of knowledge that a candidate for that position should possess. Most of those attributes are straightforward, and applicants without those qualifications should be first-round rejects. That is the kind of screning I would suggest the personnel department do before the committee looks at any applications. The committee is wasting their time if they are looking at people without those qualifications, and if they are actually considering an unqualfied candidate, we will know soon enough.

JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago

It's not WHAT you know, it is WHO you know!

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

We'll know soon enough. There are three options: They could hire the empty suit protege of an in crowd member. They could make the safe choice and move up the assistant finance director of a bigger city or the finance director of a smaller city. We may take a walk on the wild side if the new finance director wears huge red shoes with long curly toes and a Ronald McDonald wig.

JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago

I vote that we take a walk on the wild side. Stir things up and make them more interesting around here. Heck, I might even vote for the Santa Clause guy for governor too. We need some change and some fun. Too much of the same ol' is boring...

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

I am voting for Leonard Steinman.

PatsyDecline 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Mmmm.....jumbo shrimp....

Not a job on the planet that can't be filled in a month or so...JC Finance Director?? Nope....not any genuine reason at all.

Tonto is spot on. HR can weed out the wannabes and drill down to the worthies. It ain't brain surgery at all. It's just work. The same stuff that private companies do every day and seems to take govt agencies months/years/forever.....

The mere fact that they are complaining about dearth of applicants on one hand...and then making excuses for how long its going to take to fill this critical position....just says good ole boy do nothing govt as usual all over.

Braise jumbo shrimp until color on a hot pan with white wine, butter, garlic, salt, pepper, and adobo....Onion if you will...

I like to serve au jus with toasted rolls and cold fresh tomato. Perfect with a chilled Auslese Riesling. Bon appetit!

John 10 months, 2 weeks ago

You, Tonto, and a few others have it all figured out then. One or each of you ought to apply. It is so easy, you folks do it. Never mind that each and every applicant might have all of the required skills and similar work histories. Heck, you make the decision and call the city manager -- you will save the city money and provide all the expertise and have all of Jefferson City's problems and half the problems with the state fixed in no time at all.

You all seem to have everything figured out no matter what is printed in the paper. Go for it, run for mayor, tell the council that you will take turns working as city manager for half of his salary (especially since you do not like the current one and believe that the city manager's salary is too high).

You all demonstrate exactly the same kind of short sightedness that you accuse the present regime of having.

tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago

I think you know better. The city is taking too long and making way too much of a fuss about this. It's not that great a job.

PatsyDecline 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Regime is a strong word.

Mixed signals John.

You defend typical govt inefficiency.....but yet refer to our local pols as a regime??

It times like this that like to refer to Sailor Jerry or Mark Twain. Take your pick. Cheers

Or login with:

OpenID

News Tribune