In June, Forest Lake officials announced they had six finalists for the city administrator position. A month later, city officials said they had scrapped the search and parted ways with the search firm originally hired to help find the best candidate to fill the city’s top spot.

Now — with the help of a new search firm — Forest Lake has a new slate of finalists. Among the three finalists: Interim City Administrator Kristina Handt, former Lake Elmo city administrator. Handt, who had originally applied for the job, dropped out of the running before the finalists were announced last time around; Forest Lake “wasn’t the right fit for me at this time,” she told the Pioneer Press.

She re-applied for the job after the council in July parted ways with the search firm originally hired to find a new city administrator — David Drown and Associates — and started anew with Stillwater-based Specialized Recruiting Group.

The other two finalists are: Jon Radermacher, former city administrator in Little Falls, and Shawn Metcalf, city administrator in Hastings, Neb., according to an announcement posted on the Forest Lake city website.

Radermacher, the former city administrator in Madison, Minn., served as the city administrator in Little Falls until June, according to his LinkedIn profile. The Little Falls City Council placed Radermacher on an unpaid suspension in May “following his performance review that took place in closed session for about two hours as part of the May 6 City Council meeting,” according to an article published May 17 in the Morrison County, Minn., Record.

Metcalf, meanwhile, was placed on paid administrative leave in September because of “a confidential personnel matter,” according to an article published Sept. 6 in the Hastings Tribune.

A woman who answered the phone at Hastings City Hall on Thursday would not comment on Metcalf’s employment status.

The Hastings City Council is scheduled to vote on Monday on a motion to terminate and remove Metcalf as city administrator, according to the meeting’s posted agenda. “State statute, city code, and Shawn’s employment contract state that the City Administrator may be removed at any time by the mayor with the approval of a majority of city council,” the item reads.

Hastings Mayor Corey Stutte said Thursday night that he could not comment on personnel issues.

Metcalf has served as city administrator in Hastings since December 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously served as city manager/CEO for Rawlins, Wyo., was associate vice president of human resources for Uintah Basin Technical College in Roosevelt, Utah, and was the the assistant city manager in Roosevelt, Utah.

Handt, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, was hired in mid-January after the Forest Lake City Council voted unanimously to terminate former city administrator Patrick Casey’s employment contract and hire her as interim administrator and interim clerk. The vote came after a closed session to discuss Casey’s annual performance evaluation.

Handt was terminated from her position in Lake Elmo in November 2023 when the Lake Elmo City Council voted not to renew her contract; she had been city administrator in Lake Elmo since March 2016. Handt had expressed concerns about the site of a new Lake Elmo Elementary School because of issues regarding access to city water. Lake Elmo, the fastest-growing city in Minnesota, is dealing with a multitude of water issues, including PFAS contamination and restrictions on pumping as a result of a court order regarding the water levels of White Bear Lake.

Prior to joining Lake Elmo in 2012, Handt served as city administrator in Scandia and village administrator in Luck, Wis.

Mayor Mara Bain said Thursday that she is “looking forward to the next round of interviews and being closer to filling our open city administrator position.”

When asked about Rademacher’s and Metcalf’s employment issues, Bain said: “Unfortunately, I can’t comment on either with any specificity. Understanding more details of both situations will definitely be part of this next phase.”

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