The City of Great Bend scheduled the three finalists for the City Administrator position to tour facilities, meet staff workers, and visit with the media Wednesday. Great Bend is looking for their next permanent city administrator since Howard Partington retired early in August of 2017 after 36 years in the position.

Larry Collins has a deep history working with fire departments, including 30 years with the Dayton, Ohio Fire Department where he retired as Fire Chief in 2008. From there he served as Fire Chief for five years in Brevard County, Florida and most recently as Fire Chief in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Collins noted he was looking to land a city administrator job before his retirement and felt Great Bend was the right size.

Larry Collins Audio

Collins was fired from his Fire Chief role in Brevard County in 2014. Given a chance to explain the firing, Collins said the previous County Manager in Brevard County offered him a job to become the Safety Director in St. Lucie County, two counties down from Brevard. Collins tentatively accepted knowing that the job in St. Lucie would not be available until several months away. Collins brought in two of his Assistant Fire Chiefs with Brevard County to discuss the possibility of him leaving to create a succession plan, but wanted to keep the news quiet in case the move fell through and to avoid any chaos within the department. Collins says roughly two weeks later upon entering a meeting with the current County Manager he was fired and given 90 days of severance pay. Collins notes the next day that one of the Assistant Fire Chiefs he confided in earlier was appointed the Fire Chief, hearing that the Assistant told the Manager.

Larry Collins Audio

Kendal Francis comes from Beloit where he worked in the water / wastewater department for 20 years before moving on to become the City Administrator in Lakin and in Coffeyville for the past three years.

Francis stated Great Bend’s strategic planning attracted him to the job and he is ready to build relationships with staff and the community.

Kendal Francis Audio

Francis resigned from the Coffeyville City Manager position in March after settling terms with the Coffeyville City Commission. Francis’ contract did not end until August, but the Commission wanted Francis to resign immediately because of displeasure with Francis’ management style. Francis declined the proposal initially until the Commission agreed to pay out the remaining portion of his salary in his severance package. According to Francis, some of the five-member Commission disliked certain department heads and were upset Francis did not terminate the employees.

Kendal Francis Audio

Francis added there was also an issue with high utility bills in Coffeyville the past couple of years. Upon investigation, the City found out a meter reader was not actually reading the meters, instead he was estimating the total usage. The employee was terminated and after truly reading the meters it resulted in higher utility bills. The spiked bills led to discontent with community members making upset calls to Commissioners.

Scott Hildebrand grew up in Liberal and has spent the past two years as City Administrator in Valley Center. With a population of roughly 7,500 in Valley Center, Hildebrand says the job in Great Bend would be a nice step up and could not pass on the opportunity to apply.

Scott Hildebrand Audio

 

George Kolb has served as Interim City Administrator for Great Bend since October of 2017 and will continue to do so until the selected candidate settles into the position.

Previous administrator Partington got caught up in the community backlash of the suspension of former Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch last summer. Couch claimed acts of misconduct from Partington and former Mayor Mike Allison. The City claimed Couch was suspended because of not following an order from Partington, among other reasons. Couch was reinstated but eventually resigned from the position noting a “target on his back.” Partington stated he was bullied, harassed, and threatened and that the “harassing attacks have been the most difficult challenge I have faced in my life.”

As a Kansas boy in the municipal administration field, Hildebrand noted it was frustrating to see Partington go through the city turmoil last summer.

Scott Hildebrand Audio

In February, the Great Bend City Council moved forward with hiring Slavin Management Consultants to conduct the job search for $15,505 plus travel and office costs.

The candidates will go through formal interviews with the Great Bend City Council Wednesday, June 27 and then be available to the public for two meet-and-greets Thursday, June 28. Both meet-and-greets will be hosted at the Great Bend Events Center with the first one starting at 10:30 a.m. and the second at 4:30 p.m.

The City noted no immediate decision on the selection would be made following the interviews.