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Job post for city manager outlined
Thursday, July 12, 2012
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Think you’ve got what it takes to be Martinsville’s next city manager?
You’d better have a lot of experience in management and dealing with different types of people, a job announcement on the Virginia Municipal League’s website shows.
The city manager is the top administrator in city government and is employed by Martinsville City Council, not the city itself.
Martinsville has been without a manager since Clarence Monday left the position in January to become county administrator in Amherst County.
Public Works Director Leon Towarnicki, who doubles as the assistant city manager, is serving as interim city manager.
According to the job announcement, the manager’s position requires at least five to seven years of public or private management experience as a chief or deputy chief executive in a “comparably sized organization” to the city.
The announcement states that Martinsville has a population of 13,821 and an $86 million budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.
Mayor Kim Adkins said it is likely that applicants will have experience in local government. At the least, she said, they are “going to have to demonstrate an understanding of municipalities, especially Virginia municipalities.”
However, the council is open to considering people with different types of experiences and skills as an executive, she emphasized.
According to the announcement, the position also requires:
• At least a bachelor’s degree in either business, public administration, planning, finance or a related field, although a master’s degree is “highly desirable.”
• “A high level of successful performance” in finance and budgeting issues, economic development and redevelopment efforts, strategic planning, team-building, bringing people together to solve community problems and working with diverse populations.
“A progressive record of strong, professional, administrative leadership in a similar community or organization” is important, the announcement states.
Adkins said the council wants Martinsville’s next manager to be accessible and open-minded as well as a collaborator and “a strong communicator so (city) government will be more open than it’s ever been.”
The announcement states that Martinsville is “consistently ranked” among the top places in which to live with populations under 25,000 in the Southeast and that the city is “widely recognized for its history, high quality of life, strong public school system and efforts to build a more diverse economy.”
The annual compensation range is $95,000 to $115,000 plus benefits, based on experience and qualifications, the announcement shows.
When he left Martinsville, Monday was earning $118,320 a year.
He had been city manager since 2007 and was hired at an annual salary of $116,000. Before being named city manager, he was interim city manager and, before that, city fire chief and fire marshal. His career background was in emergency services in Martinsville and Henry County.
Applications for the manager’s job are being accepted by Springsted Inc., a Richmond executive recruitment firm. Applications received by July 29 will receive priority consideration, according to the announcement.
Adkins said she doesn’t know why the announcement reads that way. She said July 29 is the deadline to apply, and the council aims to get a report on applicants from Springsted during its Aug. 14 meeting.
The council hopes to announce the hiring of a new city manager during the week of Sept. 10, Adkins added.
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