Claremont
Closed-door deliberations will continue on Dec. 6, Mayor Charlene Lovett said after the council met for two hours in a nonpublic session on Tuesday.
Back in public session, the council voted to seal the nonpublic minutes and Lovett announced the council would vote to pare the list from three candidates to two:
Ryan McNutt, of Fitchburg, Mass., has been town administrator in Lancaster since August 2014, and from September 2011 to August 2014, he was director of housing in Fitchburg.
David Johnston was city manager of Maple Valley, Wash., population 25,000, from 2009 until May 2016.
According to Johnston’s resume, which was provided by Lovett, Maple Valley has 45 full-time employees and 35 seasonal employees with a budget of $29 million. Claremont’s city budget this year is $17 million.
Previously, Johnston, who received his undergraduate degree in American studies from Notre Dame and master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University, served as village administrator in Coal City, Ill., for three years, town manager in Westfield, Ind., for three years and village administrator in Rantoul, Ill., from 2004 to 2008. Maple Valley is southeast of Seattle.
McNutt earned an undergraduate degree in history and secondary education in 2008 and a graduate degree in history in 2014, both from Fitchburg State College.
From 2009 to 2011 he was chief of staff for the administration of Mayor Lisa Wong in Fitchburg, population of 40,000.
In his cover letter, McNutt compared the circumstances of Fitchburg in 2008 to those of Chelsea, Mass., where outgoing City Manager Guy Santagate was credited with playing a major role in bringing the city back from bankruptcy prior to his arrival in Claremont.
“Through hard work, communication with the City Council and community and many hard decisions, Fitchburg was brought from the brink of receivership to the strong position it occupies today,” McNutt wrote.
The Fitchburg annual budget is more than $100 million and McNutt said he was part of a team that brought the city’s “stabilization account” up from $25,000 to more than $5 million.
According to his resume, Johnston led the effort to redevelop a shuttered Air Force base in Rantoul into an industrial park and also created a comprehensive economic development strategy for the town of 13,000 in eastern Illinois.
The two finalists were chosen from an original pool of 38 from about 17 states. A search committee recommended six finalists to the council.
Lovett said she could not be sure the new manager would be able to start before Santagate retires on Dec. 31 after more than 15 years running the city.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
Correction
David Johnston was city manager for Maple Valley, Wash., from 2009 to May of this year. An ealier version of this story inaccurately reported his employment status.
