Morgantown council and public to meet manager candidates

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Interviews begin this weekend with six men vying to be the next administrator for the City of Morgantown.

They will meet with council and department heads over the weekend as the city works to replace Jeff Mikorski who stepped down from the job and accepted a position in Verona, WI in August 2016.

The finalist list includes candidates from Washington, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., Florida, Maryland and Michigan.

Paul Brake arrived in town Friday from the Great Lakes area.  In explaining his interest in the job, Brake said “certainly the experience that I’ve had as a past city manager, dealing with infrastructure improvements, and I worked in a community that was part of the university town of Michigan State University” make him qualified to lead Morgantown.

The position is described as one that requires a person who knows a little bit about a variety of subjects like engineering, human resources, civil rights, legalities, public works, transportation and more.

“That’s what kind of attracted me to the profession originally is having that variety and helping people out from many different perspectives,” Brake said on MetroNews affiliate WAJR’s morning talk show Morgantown AM.

Brake resigned as the Grand Blank, Michigan city manager in July 2015 to take a private sector job with SAFEbuilt, Inc.

David Johnston, former City Manager of Maple Valley, Washington was coming into Morgantown on a red eye flight Friday.  He was most recently a candidate for a city manager position in New Hampshire.

Morgantown city manager candidate Jason Yuckenberg is the Chief of Staff for the Department of Parks and Recreation, Washington, D.C.

Mark Kutney, former town manager of Loxahatchee Groves, Florida, was reportedly a deputy city manager prior to that.

Steve Brayman, Employee and Labor Relations Advisor for Prince George’s County Public Schools, College Park, Maryland, has experience as a former mayor.

Tim Holloman, former town manager of Oak Island, North Carolina, also a Morgantown AM guest, indicated he wants a long term position.

“I myself now am looking for something a little more longer term so I don’t have to move the family as much.  I served about 24 years in North Carolina.  So, my next move, I’d like to last a while – 10 or 15 years or longer.”

Holloman has worked in Mount Olive, Columbus and Topsail Beach in North Carolina.

“I think my inspections experience, my planning experience, being a certified ICMA (International City/County Management Association) credential manager and being a people person have prepared me for this position.”

Morgantown’s Assistant City Manager Glen Kelly has been serving in the interim city manager role. Earlier this month he removed his name from consideration for the fulltime job.

The City of Morgantown planned a public meet-and-greet with the candidates Saturday, Jan. 7 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Morgantown Events Center at the Waterfront Place Hotel.





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