A consultant to help find the next city administrator was hired at Tuesday’s Washington City Council meeting.

Mayor Jaron Rosien, Finance Director Kelsey Brown, City Clerk Sally Hart, and Police Chief Jim Lester reviewed the four administrative search consultant proposals they received, and recommended that the council approve the agreement with Midwest Municipal Consulting, LLC of Ankeny for up to $13,300. This was the lowest dollar amount proposal and the only consultant based in Iowa of the four. Rosien shared Midwest Municipal Consulting President Elizabeth Hansen’s previous experience with the city, “She has worked with the City of Washington before, worked with department heads, and you might recall some of you, a goal setting session. Elizabeth and Midwest Municipal Consulting is also familiar with the state of Iowa and the applicant pool in a way that we thought would benefit the City of Washington.”

The proposed recruitment timeline lists August as a deadline for applications and screening of candidates, formal interviews in September, and extending the job offer in October. Current City Administrator Brent Hinson’s last day with Washington will be August 6th, as he has accepted an offer to be Mason City’s Deputy City Administrator/Finance Director. The council also approved a resolution setting Brown and Hart as joint interim city administrators. They will be given extra compensation for accepting these responsibilities at a split of 25% of the gross wage that would typically be paid to the city administrator. Hinson commented that he thinks this amount recognizes the extra work the employees will be doing, while also accounting for possibly having to hire a consultant to help with matters of tax increment financing certification and budget planning.