Meeting the candidates
Monday session showcases individuals seeking top Ontario job
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 10:22 AM PDT
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| Ontario resident Fran Mclean (left) talks with prospective city manager candidate Henry Lawrence, Edgewood, Wash., at the informal city manager meet-and-greet Monday evening at Four Rivers Cultural Center. |
ONTARIO — Ontario city leaders, city staff and a few members of the public obtained the opportunity to meet the top four candidates for the Ontario city manager slot at an informal meet-and- greet session Monday night at Four Rivers Cultural Center.
The event was designed to give residents and officials a chance to talk briefly with each of the candidates before a round of interviews with community stakeholders kicks off today at FRCC.
While five candidates were initially slated to attend, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said one individual, Michael Stampfler, Portage, Mich., was not there because he had taken a job with another city.
Dominick said, after learning Stampfler accepted another job Friday, he made an “executive decision” after discussing the matter with a Prothman Company hiring consultant to continue with the meet-and-greet with just four candidates rather than contacting the No. 1 alternate and having him buy a plane ticket and fly out on such short notice.
“It just gives us four excellent candidates to talk to instead of five,” Dominick said.
The remaining four candidates are Ric Ingham, the current city administrator of Veneta, Ore., in the Eugene-Springfield area, which has a population of 4,640. He has worked there since 2004. Eric Swansen is currently the village manager of Yellow Springs, Ohio, a small town of 3,750, where he has worked since January of 2006. Henry Lawrence, former city manager of Edgewood, Wash., a city of 9,600 between Tacoma and Seattle, from 1998, shortly after the city was incorporated, to January of 2008. The last candidate, Roger Tinklenberg, is the acting deputy city manager of Commerce City, Colo., which has approximately 40,000 people.
Since his employment began in Commerce City in June of 2001, he has worked as finance director, acting city manager and has performed his duties as acting deputy city manager since October 2007.
Dominick said, with one less candidate to interview, the panels of stakeholders will have more time with each candidate in interviews today. The candidates are also slated to take a tour of the city today. The stakeholder panels consist of city officials, city department heads and community members. While the interviews with the community stakeholders are open to the public, Dominick said no questions will be accepted from audience members.
The day will conclude for the City Council members with an executive session debriefing, allowing them to decide when they will make a decision on whom they want to hire.
Although the event was primarily informally arranged, with city and community members mingling with the prospective candidates in small groups, the four did have the opportunity to introduce themselves to the crowd, tell them a little about themselves and offer an opinion as to why Ontario would be a good career move for them. The introductions were held about halfway into the two-hour event.’
“I was hoping to have twice as many people right now, but you know everybody’s schedule is so busy,” Dominick said prior to giving a short speech introducing the candidates.
In his speech, Dominick thanked everybody who attended and told them their role was important in making the decision and urged them all to answer an opinion survey on what they thought of the candidates.
“This is not just a council decision. This is a community decision,” he said. While some of the candidates had no local ties to the community, some, such as Ingham, who grew up in Boise and worked various government jobs in Eastern Oregon and was also instrumental in Baker City’s Sesquicentennial events. Swansen is also familiar with Ontario.
Others, such as Lawrence, had just arrived in town for the first time the last few days.
“It looks like a nice place to live, and a place people are proud of,” Lawrence said before formally introducing himself to the crowd. He said everybody in Ontario was very pleasant and friendly, welcoming him to the area. Determining which candidate was “the right fit” for Ontario appeared to be the key for some of the community members in attendance. Fran Mclean, Ontario, said it appeared all of the candidates were all good, with different backgrounds.
“In five minutes talking with somebody, you get a first impression, and that’s what they get,” he said.
While Ontario resident and businessman Norm Crume had only talked to two of the candidates prior to the introductions, he said each sounded very capable, and said he thought the council’s decision would come down to who was the best fit for Ontario.
“It looks like they’re very well qualified, and I think the council is going to have a good challenge to pick out the right one for Ontario,” he said.
