McAlester city manager to retire
Dec. 29—McAlester City Manager Pete Stasiak plans to retire in June.
Stasiak submitted a letter to the city council that was read during Tuesday's regular meeting and later thanked the mayors, city councilors and staff members he served during his tenure that spanned more than a decade.
"Our employees, I can't say enough about them because these are the people that are out there every day working as hard as they can with the tools that we give them to do good things for this community," Stasiak said. "Couldn't do it without them and they've taught me a lot."
During the meeting, McAlester Mayor John Browne read Stasiak's letter that stated his intention to retire as city manager June 30, 2022. Stasiak's contract only calls for 60-days' notice.
Browne, who was a council member when Stasiak first became city manger in 2010, thanked him for his service.
"It's not necessarily news I want to hear, but I definitely congratulate you on choosing to retire," Browne said. "I think you've done an incredible job as city manager."
Stasiak became McAlester's city manager in April 2010, but started working in McAlester as the city's director of Planning and Community Development in February 2009 before city councilors appointed him as interim city manager.
He replaced Mark Roath, who left in September 2009 to become the new city manager at Alamogordo, N.M. Roath became interim city manager in Piedmont in October.
After Roath"s announced departure, councilors voted to hire an executive search firm in the search and hiring of a city manager.
Stasiak started in 2010 as city manager with an annual salary of $105,000 and his current salary is $143,520.
Browne was on the council during the city's last search for the top executive and indicated he would prefer to again hire an executive search firm to assist in replacing Stasiak.
The mayor said he plans to push on the council's next agenda an item addressing how to replace Stasiak as city manager.
Stasiak said his favorite projects during his tenure have been "the projects we're currently working on."
Among those, Stasiak said, were the city making improvements to its water plant and a street overlay project, which councilors voted Tuesday as complete.
Stasiak said he plans to stay in McAlester because he is excited about the city's future.
McAlester voters overwhelmingly passed two propositions during November's special election related to water infrastructure improvements — and project Stasiak said he is glad to see through its infant stages.
Voters approved the city to incur a $32.5 million debt to help with replacement and repairs of the city's water distribution and transmission lines and they approved to pay for it through a new quarter-cent sales tax increase.
McAlester had a 3.75% city sales tax prior to the election and the election raised it to 4%. Oklahoma has its own 4.5% sales tax and Pittsburg County has a 1.5% sales tax — bringing the total in McAlester to 10%.
The plan covers about 28 miles of water line improvements through the city over four years. It is to be paid on a 30-year loan through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board at an interest rate less than 2% and is governed by the Department of Environmental Quality.
City officials have said the project has been years in the making after several outages and issues — some schools didn't have adequate fire flow, some fire hydrants were too far apart, and other issues.
Stasiak said the Shops at McAlester is another project he is glad to see start raising its walls and credited Economic Development Director Kirk Ridenour for his hard work on it.
Construction continues on the retail center on the property at Fourteenth Street and U.S. Highway 69 in McAlester that developer Burk Collins & Co, LTD has said is scheduled to be completed by Feb. 14, 2022.
Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Starbucks, Jiffy Lube, Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, Ross, Burke's Outlet, Rack Room Shoes, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Old Navy, Five Below and Ulta Beauty remain signed on to the project, the developer said.
"These are all wonderful things that are happening for our community," Stasiak said. "The growth we're going to see in the next couple years is exciting."
Stasiak said he became more comfortable with the idea of retiring from his position because he believes the city is moving forward through those projects and more.
He said he wanted to give the city six-months' notice on his retirement to allow proper time for a search to replace him.
"I made the decision so why not tell them now and let them work on that end of it while I work on the remaining projects?" Stasiak said.
So what's the plan for his retirement?
"Just take care of Pete and my family," Stasiak said with a smile.
Contact Adrian O'Hanlon III at aohanlon@mcalesternews.com