KINGSLEY — Dozens of candidates have already applied to be Kingsley’s next village manager.
Interim Village Manager Dan Hawkins said 44 people had applied as of last Wednesday, and the deadline is Oct. 30. He expects the village employee committee to meet the next day to narrow the field down to three to five finalists.
Hawkins will start calling finalists on Nov. 1 to set up their Nov. 6 interviews at a public meeting, he said. Village council members should make a conditional offer to one of the finalists that night.
“Then, hopefully, we will have the person officially hired soon thereafter, hopefully within the week,” Hawkins said.
The salary for the next village manager will be $70,000 to $85,000 a year, Hawkins said. He’s helping to coordinate the search, which the village is conducting on its own by posting the opening on various jobs boards.
Whoever village leaders hire will take the reins from Hawkins, who will step back into the role for a few days a week once current full-time village Manager Kaitlyn Aldrich leaves. Her last day is Nov. 1.
Hawkins said Aldrich is Ludington’s next city manager — minutes show Ludington City Council voted to give Aldrich the $120,000-a-year job at a Sept. 30 special meeting after Nate Geinzer’s Double Haul Solutions recommended her.
Aldrich served as Kingsley’s village manager after a stint as planning assistant for Traverse City. There, she took part in Michigan Municipal League’s 16/50 Project, which aimed to boost the number of women in government leadership roles.
Hawkins said he’s happy to see the level of interest in becoming Kingsley’s next chief administrative officer. Whoever village leaders pick will have plenty to do.
For one, contractors just broke ground on Brownson Memorial Park playground in Kingsley on Oct.1, thanks to a $1.5 million Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant. For another, there’s ongoing work to repair streets while also upgrading various water mains.
Add to that the ongoing interest from business owners and developers that led to the nine or so empty downtown businesses when Hawkins started as manager in 2017 all being filled since then.
“There just seems to be a forward momentum in Kingsley that we hope continues, and it takes a lot of work,” he said. “That takes a leader that’s going to be willing to roll up their sleeves quickly and jump right in.”