Fort Meade Commission votes to offer city manager job to candidate from Minnesota
More than three months after the city manager resigned, the Fort Meade City Commission has settled on a preferred successor.
The commission voted 3-1 at a special meeting Wednesday evening to offer the position to Pat Oman, currently county administrator for Becker County in Minnesota. The vote came after the commission held public, in-person interviews with the two finalists, Oman and Patrick Marsh of Port Charlotte.
Petrina McCutchen was the lone commissioner voting against the motion to hire Oman. Mayor James Watts and Commissioners Bob Elliott and James “Possum” Schaill voted to extend him an offer.
City Manager Jan Bagnall departed in August after 2? years in the position. His tenure proved tumultuous, as a block of citizens regularly criticized his job performance on social media. Bagnall, who had previously headed the city’s electricity department, submitted his resignation in 2022 but withdrew it and was allowed to remain in the job.
Bagnall incurred a letter of reprimand earlier this year after city commissioners learned he had signed off on the purchase of a fire truck without their approval, in what Bagnall said was confusion about what he was signing. Bagnall pointed to his record of helping Fort Meade secure more grant money during his time as city manager than it had ever received.
Fort Meade drew 22 applications for the position. City commissioners individually submitted lists of candidates worthy of consideration, culling the list to eight. City officials sent pre-interview questionnaires to the applicants, and only five of them returned completed forms, Interim City Manager Maria Sutherland said.
Commissioners held virtual interviews in late October with the four remaining candidates before deciding on Oman and Marsh as the finalists.
Oman, 56, began his current position in northwest Minnesota in December 2021. He oversees 10 departments with 377 employees and an operating budget of $68 million, according to his resume. Among his accomplishments, he cited improving the county’s Standard and Poor’s credit rating from AA to AA+.
Oman listed his salary at $141,800 in his application. He requested a salary of $125,000 from Fort Meade.
From 2015 to 2021, Oman worked as county administrator in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, his resume states. He has also held administrative roles in Moose Lake, Minnesota, and Carlton County, Minnesota.
Oman began his career in the private sector, working as a corporate manager and product development engineer for Honeywell International from 1995 to 2002, his resume states. He has also held two positions in economic development.
Oman holds a master’s degree in business administration from University of St. Thomas-St. Paul in Minnesota and bachelor’s degrees in biology and art history from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, his resume indicates.
Calls to delay decision
The commissioners submitted written scores for the two finalists after the interviews. Oman received an average score of 39.5, compared with 37.5 for Marsh, Human Resources Director Cherie Kercher said during the meeting. McCutchen provided the lowest scores for each candidate — 30 for Oman and 29 for Marsh.
Oman’s highest score was 44 from Schaill, while Watts rated Marsh at 45 and Elliott gave him a score of 44.
Kercher said that in the previous round of interviews, Marsh received an average score of 39.63, compared with 38.25 for Oman.
The vote occurred during a period of transition for the Fort Meade City Commission. Elliott, a former mayor who has been on the board for 25 years, lost his re-election bid in November to challenger Jaret Landon Williams and will be leaving the commission in January.
One commission seat has been vacant since Barbara Arnold resigned during a meeting in June. The city held a special election to fill the opening, and former commissioner Samuel Berrien prevailed in a runoff race. He is scheduled to take office at the next regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 12.
During discussions before the vote Wednesday, McCutchen questioned choosing the next city manager without input from two of five commissioners who will be supervising him.
“We have a four-person commission, and there's going to be a significant change,” McCutchen said. “I feel like, my personal opinion, the two incoming commissioners may want a say in who the individual is. That's just my personal opinion. The dynamics of where we are now have significantly changed, and I think those individuals could be given the liberty to have a say so in who the city manager is.”
Before the meeting, Sutherland said that the timing of the hiring process is being driven by a clause in the Fort Meade charter limiting the length of an interim city manager’s service to five months. Sutherland assumed her position on Aug. 21 and will reach the five-month mark on Jan. 21.
In an interview, Sutherland said that city officials wanted to decide on a hire before the Dec. 12 meeting, allowing time for contract negotiations and for a new city manager to give notice and move to the area before she reaches the five-month mark. Under the city charter, Berrien can only be sworn in at a regularly scheduled commission meeting, not a special meeting.
Elliott pushed back against the suggestion of waiting to choose between the two finalists. He said both Oman and Marsh have applied for jobs elsewhere, suggesting that if Fort Meade waited one or both might no longer be available.
'Good communication skills'
After Kercher read out the average scores from Wednesday’s interviews, Elliott motioned for a vote on hiring Oman.
“My theory is, I thought he had a lot of compassion, empathy and good communication skills,” Elliott said. “And all around, I like the guy.”
Sutherland said that Kercher will be leaving her job on Dec. 15 and asked that City Attorney Chris Berg handle negotiations on a contract with Oman.
Watts asked Oman during his interview how soon he would be able to begin work if hired. He estimated that it would take 45 to 60 days after he gave notice to his current employer.
Even if Oman agrees to an offer promptly, that estimated transition means he likely would not join Fort Meade until after Elliott has left the City Commission in January.
Williams expressed frustration that he and Berrien would have no say in choosing the next city manager. In an interview before Wednesday’s meeting, he said Fort Meade’s citizens had spoken by electing him and Berrien.
“I don't understand, outside of the charter, why Mr. Berrien is not occupying this vacancy,” Williams said. “I absolutely feel that he should be a part of this process. There seems to be an urgency to elect a new city manager without Mr. Berrien present, and I don't understand that.”
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Williams said he had heard from a diverse range of residents unhappy that the commission would select a new city manager before he and Berrien take their positions.
“Those who are at the table have to be willing to explore other options,” Williams said. “There are always other ways. It may take a little bit more effort to figure out what options exist.”
Berrien could not be reached for comment.
'Untapped potential'
In Wednesday’s interviews, McCutchen asked both candidates how they felt about serving a commission that would have a different composition.
“The city manager would serve at the pleasure of that City Commission,” Oman said. “I guess there's always a concern. I think I mitigate that concern through individual meetings with those elected officials on a monthly basis — talking to them about what their goals are, what their concerns are, for the city.”
During his 50-minute interview, Oman described Fort Meade’s historic downtown as an important asset. He touted his experience with economic development and praised commissioners for their interest in a community redevelopment agency. Oman said that if hired he would pursue money through Community Development Block Grants available from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“I think it's a wonderful city with, I think, some untapped potential,” he said. “And I think having a city manager with the economic development background and doing those successes, I think will be useful.”
Oman said he has enjoyed his time in his current position but added, “I'm looking for something in the next 10 to 15 years of my career where I could advance another type of development.”
Marsh most recently served for one year as city manager in Fernley, Nevada, a city of about 24,000, his resume stated. He also listed experience in city government for Fitchburg, Wisconsin; Monona, Wisconsin; Coal Valley, Illinois; and Eldridge, Iowa.
Marsh has a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, according to his resume.
Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade Commission votes to offer city manager job to Minnesotan
