The City of Washington has narrowed down their finalists for their administrator position.

The city received 17 qualified applicants for the position that was previously held for nine years by Brent Hinson. With the contracting of Elizabeth Hansen of Midwest Municipal Consulting, the city’s search committee of Mayor Jaron Rosien, Council Member and former city clerk Illa Earnest, Council Member Elaine Moore, Finance Director Kelsey Brown, City Clerk Sally Hart, and Police Chief Jim Lester have narrowed the 17 down to eight, and during a closed session September 14th the council siphoned the group to five. Rosien says the search progress has gone very well, “I’m pleased to share [that] those five applicants would all do a tremendous job for the City of Washington. I am confident that our best candidate will rise to the top, with the multiple panels that will interview and ask questions and provide input, we’ll come to the right decision.”

Rosien says three of the candidates are within the state, one is from an adjacent state, and one is from further away. On Wednesday, September 29th, three panels of city department heads, elected officials, and community leaders will interview the candidates. The day will also include city tours from Washington Chamber Director Michelle Redlinger and a police officer and a luncheon with members of the public and city staff invited to attend. Rosien says those community members and staff will be able to give their input on their interactions with the candidates. Deliberation is scheduled afterwards, which Rosien anticipates will end with a formal job offer. The potential start time would be 30-60 days after the contract is approved.