North Mankato to pick city administrator finalists Monday
May 18—NORTH MANKATO — The North Mankato City Council will soon pick finalists for the city administrator position, left open when John Harrenstein left for a job in Iowa earlier this year.
They will discuss and choose among a group of 10 candidates during a special meeting noon Monday at City Hall.
"There were 15 candidates that applied," acting administrator Mike Fisher said Tuesday. "The consultant we hired to do the work, they have narrowed it down to 10 candidates that will be further considered."
He said the 10 candidates have done a video interview and some personality tests given by the consultant.
Council members will review those video interviews and related material before the upcoming meeting.
At the special meeting, council members will discuss the 10 candidates using numbers, rather than their names, and vote on a group of finalists they want to come back for more formal interviews.
Fisher said their is no set number of finalists the council will pick, but said it is likely to be between two and five.
He said he wasn't sure if the council would release the finalists' names right after Monday's meeting but said the names would be released soon after.
Harrenstein, who is now working as the city administrator in Altoona, had served as North Mankato city administrator since March 2013.
The salary range for the new administrator will be between $135,000 and $155,000.
Mayor Mark Dehen said at an earlier meeting that the process for hiring a new administrator will include "a number of stakeholder opportunities" for residents. The council can choose from a number of resident input opportunities, including coffee meetings and open houses with finalists.
The council is expected to conduct interviews at a special meeting, tentatively set for June 13, and then select a candidate to offer the job to. If the candidate accepts, he or she will start in July.
