City culls adminstrator applicants to 10 semifinalists

The list of 30 applicants for the job of Port Washington city administrator was culled to a list of 10 semifinalists Tuesday night by the Common Council.

All but one of the candidates is from Wisconsin, City Administrator Mark Grams said. He would not say whether any were from Ozaukee County, but acknowledged some are from southeastern Wisconsin.

“I think they’re a very good group,” Grams said. “They (the council) will get a good person out of the group.”

Applications for the position were due Wednesday, Jan. 29.

The 30 applicants, Grams said, were an impressive group.

“It might be a little difficult to get it down to 10 semifinalists,” he said. 

The overall group of applicants were mostly from Wisconsin, he said, with four or five coming from other states. One or two were from Ozaukee County.

Aldermen met in closed session for more than an hour Tuesday to review the applications, and Grams said the aldermen were “pretty much” in agreement about who should be on the list of semifinalists.

The city’s consultant on the administrator search, Public Administration Associates, has provided the council with some information on the applicants and will do background reports on the semifinalists, Grams said.

The semifinalists will also submit video interviews to the city, and aldermen will review these in closed session during their Wednesday, Feb. 19, meeting.

The finalists would then be invited to the city  for a visit in late February or early March, during which they would not only meet with officials, city staff members and community representatives, they would also go through an assessment center, emotional intelligence test and other exercises.

The Common Council is expected to hire a new administrator in early to mid-March with the person starting work in mid-April.

Grams, who is just the city’s second administrator, is retiring on April 10.