bought a fruitless search result
for City Administrator.
MASON CITY — You get what you pay for, so the saying goes, and the Mason City council and mayor flubbed another project, wasting thousands of dollars on a fruitless search for a new city administrator.
After Brent Trout left Mason City for greener pastures in Kansas, the city council here hired Mark A. Jackson Consulting and Hinson Consulting, LLC, to conduct a City Administrator search. That project ended up costing $6,600.00. NIT is told a typical search of this kind costs much more, upwards of $50,000 or more, if conducted in a serious manner. Once the search got underway, the Globe Gazette declared, “Their recruitment and vetting process produced an impressive field of candidates with the City receiving 30 applications from candidates in 12 states.” That so-called “impressive field” was then whittled down to 5 candidates.
However, some in town were less-than-impressed with the finalists. One former elected official told NIT, “these guys want to move up from JV to varsity … they ain’t ready.”
who he wants as
City Administrator.
After a number of closed-session meetings on the matter and weeks later, the Mason City council finally threw in the towel and declared that the search was fruitless and none of the candidates brought forth by Jackson and Hinson fit the bill.
In a statement released Thursday, Mayor Bill Schickel said, “the Mason City City Council is not further pursuing any of the five finalists for City Administrator. We thank the finalists for their interest and believe they have outstanding qualifications, but are not a right fit for Mason City at this time.
“Fortunately we have an outstanding Interim City Administrator and staff so we are in a good position,” Schickel said. Kevin Jacobson is the city’s Interim City Administrator and remains Finance Director, as well.
“I have asked our Human Resources Department to recommend to the City Council additional options for City Administrator candidate recruitment,” Schickel claims.
in the search for the next
City Administrator?
However, the word in the NIT newsroom is that Schickel and the council pretty much know who they intend to pursue for the job and Robin Anderson of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce has played a role in the process. This candidate wants the job, but is not outwardly campaigning for it. He is qualified, appears to have done a good job in his role nearby to Mason City, and will likely pick up where Trout left off.
Ominously, NIT is told that if hired, this person might be pressured to eliminate certain city employees who “ask too many questions” and “don’t play ball” with the mayor, council and those who continue to doggedly pursue the beleaguered Renaissance Project.
“You could see dominos fall if this hiring goes through, which seems now to be inevitable,” NIT is told by an insider. “One job is taken, another opens elsewhere. The open job is then filled, perhaps, by someone with no experience as a City Administrator, but real good at ordering them around, maybe with a background of dividing a community and attacking folks, bullying. Then that town will need a watchdog, cameras at meetings, if you take my meaning.”
NIT will continue to follow developments in the continuing saga of city hall business in Mason City.
Mason City Council – unqualified morons acting like the good ‘ol boys elected by a majority stupid population running what’s left of this town into the ground. It’s the citizens of this town that will eventually get screwed cause they are dumb, lazy and stupid to stand up and do anything about it. They are scared ‘cause they might get singled out by the idiots they voted into office.
my daughter was smart, she moved away and now makes $58.00 a hr tell me just where could she make that kind of money in mason city?? mayor and council don’t want jobs like that in mason city,
even though kevin doesn’t have much personality give the job to him, its on next weeks council meeting to promote someone to be his assistant with a additional $20,000 a yr raise. COME ON CITY, PROMOTE FROM WITHIN look what happens when you go outside Jack Schlieper, worst chief the PD ever had, Fire Chief, fired for having a booze and drug party, current police chief, what ever his name is, already looking for a different job, last police chief, just looking for a laid back job to finish his carrer and retire. the current employees that put in for the job, give it to them if they been here 20-30 yrs that means they are going to stay and with that many yrs they must be doing something right or they would be gone. cant understand the city going outside to hire, current employees don’t have much to look forward to if there is no promotion to a higher level.
When will these white collar crime’s end against the hard working people and taxpayers of Mason City by your so-called “elected officials” and their cronie friends? The taxpayers’ hard earned dollars deserve to be and should be, used and spent to the benefit of the ALL of the citizens of Mason City …..not just the crooked leadership and criminal friends’ ” personal cash cow wish list”! Stop the criminal nightmare people! YOU DESERVE BETTER!
But…..there hasn’t been enough of the taxpayer’s money foolishly spent yet to come to a simple no cost solution by the top notch con artist’s and friends that are running this city! Keep on spending…… until we aquire the perfect group of white collar criminals to continue taking the taxpayers money while blowing smoke up the citizens a$$’s! Time to clean house and replace them all with someone that doesn’t have their own hidden personal agenda in mind! It can be a thriving city with the right people on board! The ones already in place are sinking the ship quickly! The other cronies have already jumped ship! Wake the f**k up citizen’s of Mason City! The outsiders can see it….why can’t you!
Unfortunately, Mason City has such a bad reputation around the Midwest now that we don’t get applications from the best candidates. Our best bet probably is to promote from within, since those people are already here and have put down roots, so they’ll probably stick around awhile. Kevin Jacobson seems like a pretty smart guy, and he’s been doing two full-time jobs for months now. We should promote him, and promote a member of his finance staff to finance director.
Best idea I have heard yet!
I think they should make Flory from Clear Lake and Jacobson the offer and see whoever takes it. I like both.
I love the way many of you go crazy over the city wasting $6600. If they would have picked one of the 5, you’d go crazy with that choice. They decided their 5 picks weren’t the best for the town. Isn’t that better than hiring a person nobody wanted? Besides, most of you think President Trump is the greatest thing since sliced bread and he wastes millions every weekend playing golf at one of his courses and you are just fine with that.
That is because they are typical Trumptard dumbasses (redundant, I know).
They are just stupid little sheep without an inkling of reality.
They live in bubble of dumbassness.
Look, you keep bring up all the “stupid” people that voted for Trump,” well he won didn’t he, that means more people in Iowa agree with him than you do. You are the minority and by spouting your mouths, both you and Bodacious, you are proving how ignorant and in the minority you are.
John you poor patheic dumdass.
Did Trump win the maojority vote?
No, he didn’t and that last time that happened was with Dubya Bush and we all know now what a disaster that turned out to be.
You seem to think by tearing down John and insulting him it makes you smarter and bigger. When the reality is it makes you look like what you are, a small minded, ignorant ass.
^^
I’m not “tearing down” down John.
He can’t help it if he is a dumbass just like you.
First, if two people in Iowa agree that Trump is doing a good job, then that is one more person than me so you are correct in that statement. We will see in the next election if Trump’s agenda is still the favored agenda of all Iowans. You also seem to believe that I can’t voice my opinions because Trump won. That isn’t the way this country operates, however, it is the way many of Trump’s supporters think it should be-you included-and you are all wrong. I hope that when the opposing party takes back control of this country that you will continue to voice your concerns and i wish that you would give your opponents the same courtesy.
I kept my thoughts to myself for 8 VERY LONG YEARS while the bum was ruining my country. It won’t happen again! The hypocrites on the left have been calling Trump every name in the book. You’ve got nothing else.
Just keep Jacobson on the job and eliminate the Finance director job, this town is not big enough to need both and will save us over $100.000 a year.
So you eliminate the the Finance director job that oversees the entire operation of the city’s finances and give him/her the additional duties of overseeing everything at no additional pay.
John, you’re a dumbass.
Schickel, Anderson, Lee, three corrupt cronies and their loyal entourage will continue to blow smoke up taxpayers a$$’s and steal, lie and cheat the honest working people of Mason City out of their hard earned money. The nightmare continues! Wake up Mason City taxpayers, your town will NEVER be the booming town it use to be under the white collar criminals that some call “leaders of the community”!
All the candidates gave good “honest” answers in their interviews therefore they were “not” chosen as they are not a “good fit”! Our leadership want’s to pay out more taxpayer’s money for a “do-over” because they have now found a “good ole boy” who will “play well” with others! When will this corrupt and criminal activity end?
Send in Max! He’ll help expose all the corruption in Mason City’s leadership! Trust him!
When are the taxpayers in Mason City going to wake up to the corrupt leadership and it’s fellow cronies in Mason City? It’s been that way for years! The mall project is the biggest clusterf##k to ever happen for the city and taxpayers since it’s birth! It’ only a cash cow for the white collar criminals and (so-called) leaders of Mason City! They only want “players” on their team and will see to it that people who really want to be honest and responsible to the taxpayers of Mason City will never be on their “team” of corrupt leadership! Again WAKE UP taxpayers! It’s your money and these so called leaders (white collar criminals) are supposed to work for you and alawys have your best interest in mind…….NOT THEIR’S!
Time to clean house taxpayers! You are being robbed and raped by your city leaders and wanna bees!
why does the city always have to go outside to find, look at the fire chief, FIRED, Jack Schlieper, FIRED, current police chief (whats his name) already looking for another job. Talk about wasting money. current employees work hard in hopes of moving up the ladder and when that time comes what do they get for it, kicked in the nuts
What a zoo!
If you need to know the average kickback rate contact the worth county supervisors office.
Politics as usual – as the liberl left says – If your not cheating your losing.
Yo dumbass, you do realize that Bill Schickle is a Republican as is most of the city council.
Well that explains the waste of time and money then, they’re republicans!
No, Schickel is a dem. However, it was reported earlier that the Chief Justice of the District Court in Cerro Gordo County declares him legally stupid some time ago. I have not seen anything factual o. It yet.
He is the former the Co-Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa and a very proud member of the republican party.
Get your facts straight you fool.
He’s a damn RHINO and always has been.
$175,000 per year is the pay being kicked around for the new hire that the council is badly keeping secret. That’s right, $175,000.
It may take $180,000
Knock it off Matt, you know that Robin Anderson is aggressively pushing the knights of the banana gang to hire Scott Flory from Clear Lake!! With him as city administrator, honey baby can have her way with the gang and keep the boondoggle Renaissance Project alive and well. If you don’t believe it just ask John Lee. He knows he wants Flory as Mason City Administrator.
I think he would do well in MC. Word on the street is that he wanted the job after the Big Fish Trout left, but that was 6 monthas ago and he isn’t as motivated now.
Wow-Not much else to say. The other commenters said it all.
With the F-uped council/mayor, the mess of the renaissance project, and already poor reputation of the city would you want the job?
How many qualified candidate DID NOT apply for the job because they knew of the mess they were getting into? That leaves the “unqualified” candidates of whom the council did not pick.
Me thinks they want somebody right out of city administrator school or one with very little experience so the mayor, some council members, and Robin can mold his/her mind to promote their agenda.
Scott Flory from clear lake was interested in the job. He was even attending the Mason city council meetings but Schickel, Lee and Paul Adams dismissed him. Now from what I hear Flory wouldn’t touch the job after seeing these wing nuts in action. Now because they have wasted time and money because the heat is on them John lee wants to hire Jacobson. Jacobson thinks Schickel and Lee don’t have a clue and just wants out to go back to his finance job so he doesn’t have to put up with the mayor and councils incompetence.
Well, sorry to say this isn’t a varsity town. Also, are we talling about the cry baby from Clear Lake?
What happened to boycotting all the businesses and folks who are on the Mason City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors? Where is that list? It needs to be published so we can clearly expose the group of folks who hired Robin Anderson. Get to the root of the problem.
Definitely something to consider. This town’s leadership (can you call it that?) has proven to be a failure. The elections are rigged, the puppet masters who dominate the elected officials call the shots from 9 North Federal. There is no real democracy in Mason City – no one is truly representing the townsfolk. Special interests rule and this why the town will not improve. A few benefit (the list you speak of) from this quagmire as the town slowly deteriorates. That’s the truth about Mason City.
I liken this town to a seive. Years of population decline have lead to a distinct segregation of its residents. The smart, productive people passed through the seive years ago and have long since left. We’re now left with what was retained in the seive…the folks that are too stupid or too poor (or both) to move on.
Leadership isn’t the problem. It’s the majority of this town citizens. They all think there is a easy answer or a silver bullet to make this town grow again. This town has a lot of work (and investment) to make it grow again. Listening to town blow hards (like Weaver and the ‘journalists’ at NIT) will fix nothing.
Here’s a link to the list, it’s on the Chamber website. Brian Taylor is still on the site, but shouldn’t be as he now lives in Mankato. http://masoncityia.com/index.php/about/board-directors/
It’s a case of majority idiots electing idiots running for office. Blame the constituent of folks that elected him. If the majority feel it’s ok to waste $6000 than so be it. No one has stood up and objected cause they are too stupid to do so or scared. If anyone had any common sense they would stand up and form together to impeach the major and the council and demand resignations. Blame the stupidity of the majority who gave these idiots the power in the first place. At this point the majority really doesn’t care. Seems like this town keeps electing idiot after idiot likeba bad virus and it’s a never ending story. But what can you do? – the majority just lack the intellect to demand serious change.
How did Schickel the sour pickle get elected? Schickel the sour pickle couldn’t even keep a straight face as he lied over and over again over property taxes not be raised over the mall project. Hey, and how is it that Southbridge Mall doesn’t need to pay property taxes? See how fast your home/business goes up for sale if you decide times are tough and refuse to pay them. The checks in the mail, right Mikey? -wink -wink
Like Max said, rigged elections did it all, you think Schickel asked permission for all those yellow signs in all those yards? Cheaters justice on the way as they say in Casino.
Schickel does not have a clue with what he is doing. The other problem he has is that he is a liar. He comes out a month ago and tells the community that we have great candidates to take over and then we find out they are not so great and says that they are not the right fit. Also don’t forget that Bill said publicly that the downtown project will not raise the taxpayers taxes. We now know that was a lie. How does he keep getting elected?
Then there is John Lee with all his faults but we won’t go there at this time.