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Council hires company to lead search for new city administrator

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The Lebanon City Council on Monday approved an agreement with Strategic Government Resources (SGR) to assist with its search for a new city administrator. Former City Administrator Mike Schumacher has resigned from the position to become city manager for the City of St. Joseph. Ben DeClue is currently serving as the interim city administrator. The agreement calls for SGA to be paid an amount not to exceed $28,919. According to the ordinance approved by the City Council, “the City Council recognizes that hiring a city administrator is a serious and challenging process and desires professional assistance in their recruitment efforts to produce the best possible candidate pool from a national search.” SGR helps local governments with the recruiting process, has an extensive network to reach potential applicants and offers a full-serve vetting process, according to the ordinance. The city previously hired SGA to help find a city administrator the last time the position was vacant in 2017. During that search, SGA vetted candidates, held a town hall discussion about the search and a community meeting with the two finalists for the job. For more on this story, see Wednesday's LCR.