MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Mayor Joe Abu Ghannam believes the selection of Jamie Miller, the first woman to be city manager in Morgantown, is a good fit and expectations are high for her June start.
Abu Ghannam said the help of a search firm gave city council a wider reach and a measure of confidence in the overall quality of candidates. The firm had no other task but to locate qualified candidates.
“They’re able to reach outside and see what other candidates might be interested in being a part of our community and be able to focus in on the goals that we have collectively,” Abu Ghannam said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “Maybe find someone that has a niche skill set that will benefit the council and the community.”
For the next 60 days or so, Miller will be winding down her term in office as city manager in Paris, Kentucky. When she does arrive in Morgantown she’ll have a salary of $175,000 per year; that is $25,000 a year higher than the starting rate for former city manager Kim Hawes. Abu Ghannam said the search firm provided the updated salary input for this city manager search.
“They were the ones that told us that based on our city size, this is the typical going rate for a city manager,” Abu Ghannam said. “We have to also remember that City Manager Hawes came in 2019, before this current wave of inflation.”
Miller started in Port Orange, Florida, in the human resources department and advanced to serve as the deputy city manager after serving as a budget analyst and then four years as the administrative service director. She took her current job in 2022.
“She’s worked in all the different aspects of communities and has a strong background in what we’re looking for to move our city forward,” Abu Ghannam said.
The city and West Virginia University are each adding new leadership within weeks of each other. Miller comes to Morgantown to begin work June 23, while at new WVU President Michael T. Benson officially starts July 1. The mayor sees an opportunity to reset some issues with new leadership at both organizations.
“We have a great opportunity with WVU getting a new president as well,” Abu Ghannam said. “So, we have an entire community of new leadership that hopefully will be able to work together to make our university town prosper.”
Abu Ghannam said Miller will have a city council with possibly two new members, potentially new leadership, and a growing list of priorities along with issues like the downtown, the ongoing issues in the homeless community and ongoing litigation with first responders.
“No matter who we were to bring into that position, they were going to be in a tough spot, as with any job,” Abu Ghannam said. “I think that she will hopefully be able to navigate that with no problem and I think we did a good job with the selection—I’m confident.”