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City manager candidates talk community, finances at meet-and-greet | News
Finalists for the Manhattan city manager position met with the public Monday night at the Flint Hills Discovery Center to introduce themselves to local residents and discuss important issues.
Jacob Wood, Jamie Miller, Jason Gage and Danielle Dulin are the four finalists for the job.
Wood, a K-State graduate and the current deputy city manager of Salina, said he believes his experience there is transferable to Manhattan because the two cities are facing related challenges.
“It’s interesting how the problems and issues that the city of Manhattan is facing today are the same ones we faced five years ago: low fund balances, you know, kind of had a little bit of an economic downturn,” Wood said. “We’ve really had to work on a lot of the things that Manhattan is dealing with now because there’s so much economic opportunity here.”
Miller is originally from further east, where she is the city manager in Paris, Kentucky. She said Manhattan’s amenities and the community’s profile attracted her to the city. If hired, Miller plans to continue her philosophy of prioritizing city staff and providing essential services to residents.
“My stewardship shows in my leadership style, because I believe in giving back to the team as well,” Miller said. “I believe in providing the highest level of municipal services that we can afford.”
Gage is the current city manager of Springfield, Missouri, and previously worked for 19 years in and around Salina, where he expressed his love for the area. He said he prefers to live and work in a mid-sized community.
“I really have a fondness for communities over size,” he said. “That’s from spending a lot of time in them in the past, so I know there’s a good economic opportunity here with great people and very stable leadership with a great future ahead of them.”
Dulin is another K-State graduate who has worked in city administration in the Kansas communities of Mission Hills, Prairie Village and Lenexa.
She is the current public works director and assistant city manager in Warrensburg, Missouri, and said she is excited to continue economic development here in Manhattan.
“I want to improve the quality of life for the people who live here,” she said. “I want to help build a better community.”
The city commission canceled its Tuesday meeting to meet with the four finalists throughout the day to interview them more closely and show them around the city.