December 15, 2005

Wyoming man picked as next Village manager

Eric Swansen has been selected as the next Village manager. He spoke at the manager forum last Friday.

By Robert Mihalek

Eric C. Swansen, a Jackson Hole, Wyo., resident who has more than 15 years of experience in local government, has been selected as the next Village manager.

Village Council president Jocelyn Hardman said that on Saturday, after interviewing three candidates, Council offered Swansen the manager’s position. Swansen accepted the offer.

Swansen and Council members met on Sunday to begin negotiating an employment agreement. The negotiations are ongoing, Swansen and Hardman said. Swansen said that “based on what I’ve seen I don’t think there are too many issues” outstanding with the contract.

Hardman said the contract still must be approved by Council, Village Solicitor John Chambers and Swansen. Once the three parties approve the contract, Swansen will officially become the manager, Hardman said. Swansen must also pass a physical and a credit check, she said.

She said the contract could possibly be ratified at Council’s next meeting, on Dec. 19.

Hardman said that Council members were unanimous in their support for Swansen, though she said that Council did not vote on its decision to offer him the job.

Swansen will become the ninth Village manager, including interim managers, since 1950, when the Village Charter, which gives the modern Village government its power and authority, was approved.

He was selected over two other candidates, Thomas Carroll, the acting city manager of Loveland, and Eric Strahl, a former town manager of Hopkinton, R.I. The three men were interviewed for the position and participated in a public forum last Friday night.

Hardman said that while all three candidates were well-qualified for the job, Swansen’s passion, experience and his personable nature set him apart.

The decision came down to which candidate Council members thought would fit best in Yellow Springs, Hardman said.

During Friday’s forum, Swansen said that as Village manager he believed he could make a difference in the community. He said one of his strengths is to bring together people of disparate opinions. He described the role of the manager as facilitating and helping local residents and community leaders define their visions for Yellow Springs.

He also told the audience that he was attracted to Yellow Springs for personal reasons, such as its size, the “eclectic nature of downtown” and Glen Helen and John Bryan State Park.

In an interview Monday, Swansen said he should start his new job in early January. He said he may begin working by meeting and consulting with people, but without holding normal office hours during this period.

He said among the first things as Village manager he must do is learn the laws of Ohio. He said he’ll have to initially look to Council to get a sense of the community’s values and Ohio’s laws.

Another task that he is already thinking about is how to approach the Village budget. He said it will be important to “gauge the level of service community members expect and how to pay for it.”

He said future budgets will “look different in terms of telling a story,” adding that he hopes to “do a more complete job of quantifying some of the challenges [the Village] is facing.”

Swansen was the city manager of Farmersville, Calif., from 2003 to 2004. He has also been a senior management analyst with the city of Shoreline, Wash., from 1998 to 2003; a senior management analyst with the community development department of Deschutes County, Ore., from 1994 to 1998; and a management analyst in the public works department of Lacy, Wash., from 1991 to 1994.

He has a master of public administration from the University of Washington and a BA in political science from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.

During Friday’s public forum, Swansen said that his previous experience as an analyst has “prepared me well to serve as a manager.” As an analyst, he said, he was charged with solving problems, often by bringing people together.

In the interview with the News, he also discussed the importance of motivating the staff by aligning “personal values with organizational values” and “creating a culture that recognizes and rewards” employees.

This can happen, he said, through open and honest communication and being empathetic to one another.

When the values of an organization and its employees are aligned, Swansen said, “it becomes a lot more intuitive for people to do their jobs.”

Swansen will make $75,000 a year, plus benefits, Hardman said, and the Village has agreed to pay his moving expenses.

Swansen requested that his contract state that he must live within Yellow Springs. The Village Charter says the manager must live within one mile of the village, within Miami Township, a requirement initially incorporated to accommodate Howard Kahoe, the first Village manager, who lived in the township.

“I think it is critical for the manager to do a good job,” Swansen said of living within the community.

The contract negotiations between Swansen and Council on Sunday capped a busy weekend for Council and the candidates. The selection process began on Friday afternoon, Dec. 9, when the three candidates received tours of the Village facilities and Yellow Springs. That night they participated in a public forum, which was attended by more than 50 local residents.

On Saturday morning, Dec. 10, Council members interviewed the candidates. Members of the Village Manager Search Committee were present for the interviews.

After the interviews, Council and the search committee discussed the candidates, said Hardman, adding that the search committee members shared their opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.

This was followed by another discussion by Council members, who met alone later in the afternoon on Saturday. Hardman said that during the discussion Council members said, “we’re all in agreement here. This is really good.” Swansen was then offered the manager’s job.

Time was allotted for follow-up interviews with the candidates on Sunday morning, but Council members determined the interviews were not necessary, Hardman said.

Swansen was the “clear front runner,” she said.

She said Council members also “really looked strongly at the feedback we received from villagers after the forum.” Swansen “really stood out” in both comments made by audience members at the forum and on evaluation cards audience members filled out, Hardman said.

Contact: rmihalek@ysnews.com