Woodburn Independent Online

Finalists meet with public

Mt. Angel officials will pick one of three finalists for city administrator

• By: Rachel Cavanaugh  
• Published: 2/23/2010 10:42:56 AM

Photo By: Rachel CavanaughMt. Angel search
Susan Muir, a finalist for the Mt. Angel city administrator position, talks with Mt. Angel local business owner Mike Grant on Feb. 19 during a meet-and-greet session with all three finalists for the position. The city hopes to have the new hire start work April 1.

MT. ANGEL — The final three candidates for Mt. Angel’s city administrator position met the public at an open house Friday night.
 
Candidates Mark Kunkler, Susan Muir and David Weiser sampled from the buffet table and spoke to community members in an informal drop-in reception at the Mt. Angel Public Library.
 
According to Interim City Administrator Pete Wall, the race for the post is still narrow. He added that at this point there is no clear leader.
 
Earlier in the day Friday, the candidates went on a tour of the city and met with department heads.
 
All three final candidates come directly from Oregon and Washington.
 
Kunkler is from Yakima, Wash. He served as city attorney for the city of Sunnyside, Wash., as well as assistant city manager.
 
Prior to working in Sunnyside, he was an attorney in private practice.
 
He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law and is an active member of the Washington State Bar Association.
 
“I love Mt. Angel,” Kunkler said.
 
“It’s a beautiful community. … I love a couple of things in particular. The whole community seems to tie together in a way that is really quite unusual. It really is.
 
“It really stands out as a significant factor for the city. The other is it is just plain pretty … just driving around the streets and seeing how well the homes are kept up. That’s unusual.”
 
Kunkler said he brings a team approach to management.
 
“I love to work by obtaining consensus,” he said.
 
“I have an open-door policy. I love to meet people. I love to work with people. I love to problem solve. So to me it’s just fun … to say, ‘Let’s work together and see if we can get a solution here.’”
 
Muir is from Eugene. She is currently the executive director of the city’s Planning and Development Department. Prior to that, she was the planning division manager for Eugene and also served as principle planner for Multnomah County.
 
She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Portland State University.
 
She has been a board member of the Oregon City Planning Directors Association and was the president of the Oregon County Planning Directors Association.
 
“The first thing I would do is do a lot of listening — to the community, to the council and to the staff,” Muir said. “Really just absorbing a lot of information about the history of Mt. Angel, what they’ve tried to do and what their goals are.
 
“Then taking a strategic look at how we could address those goals,” Muir said.
 
Muir added that her time with the community of Mt. Angel has so far been positive.
 
“They’re very genuine and they seem to have a heart of gold,” she said of the city’s residents. “There are a lot of people here that want to do a lot of service for their community, want to contribute back to their community and invest in the future.”
 
Weiser is from West Richland, Wash. He served as the city administrator for West Richland and the city manager for the city of Ocean Shores, Wash. He was also mayor of the city of Marysville, Wash. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Washington. He is a Certified Municipal Leader and an Advanced Municipal Leader of the Association of Washington Cities.
 
“I’m pretty easygoing,” Weiser said. “(I have an) open-door policy. I don’t micro-manage.
 
“I’m an information freak,” he added. “Whatever’s going on, I want to know about it … that way I’m not surprised. I can keep the mayor and the council apprised of what’s going on. We’re all happy.”
 
He said he likes both the people and the town of Mt. Angel.
 
On Saturday, the candidates met for interviews with city council.
 
Wall said they are moving closer to a decision.
 
“I think it’s going well so far, so we’re going to see how it plays out,” he said.

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