The Forest Lake City Council has selected six finalists for the position of city administrator.

The six finalists are:

Renae Fry, former city administrator in North Branch, and former administrative coordinator in Sauk County, Wis.
Joe Gaa, former city administrator in Marshalltown, Iowa, former city manager in Aberdeen, S.D., former city administrator in Dickinson, N.D., and former city manager in Chariton, Iowa
Thomas Hutka, former town manager for the Town of Newington, Conn., former city manager for the City of Port Huron, Mich., and former director of public works for Broward County, Fla.
Eric Johnson, former city administrator in Oak Park Heights, former city administrator for the Village of Winneconne, Wis., and former director of economic development for Rusk County, Wis.
Pat Oman, former county administrator for Becker County, Minn., former county administrator for Mille Lacs County, Minn., and former city administrator/executive director of the HRA of Moose Lake, Minn.
Devin Swanberg. village administrator for the Village of Osceola, Wis., former city administrator for Harmony, Minn., and former economic development director for the Pine Island Economic Development Authority

Interim City Administrator Kristina Handt, who had applied for the position, said she dropped out of the running when she realized Forest Lake “wasn’t the right fit for me at this time.”

Handt, who formerly served as city administrator in Lake Elmo and in Scandia, said she loves local government work, particularly working on basic government services like roads, water and sewer infrastructure, public safety and economic development.

In Forest Lake, the city administrator also spends a fair amount of time on the Forest Lake Airport; the Castlewood Golf Course, a 9-hole course owned by the city; boat-dock leases and other extra services — areas that are not of particular interest to her, she said.

“Forest Lake is a great community, and I hope they find the good, strong leadership they need to be successful going forward,” she said. “I’m committed to helping the city any way I can as they continue to work through this transition.”

Handt was hired as interim administrator and clerk in mid-January after the Forest Lake City Council voted unanimously to terminate former city administrator Patrick Casey’s employment contract. The vote came after a closed session to discuss Casey’s annual performance evaluation.

Final interviews for the position will be on June 20, said Bart Fischer, the management consultant at David Drown Associates who is handling the search.

A total of 45 applicants applied for the job. The advertised salary range is $151,580 to $189,475.

Fischer is overseeing the search; the city is paying DDA $24,000 for their services.

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