Galesburg city leaders appear set to appoint a familiar figure as interim city manager as they prepare to conduct their second national search within a year for a permanent replacement.
Former longtime Director of Public Works Wayne Carl is expected to take a hiatus from retirement and fill the role of interim city manager. The City Council could vote on his approval at the July 3 meeting. Carl retired from the city March 24 after 22 years in various roles.
The job of the city’s top administrator is once again in limbo following the departure of former City Manager Gerald Smith after just seven months in Galesburg. On June 12, the City Council approved a separation agreement initiated by Smith. Smith started as Galesburg city manager Nov. 7, 2022.
Three people — Carl, Smith and current acting city manager Steve Gugliotta — have served in the city manager role since Todd Thompson left the position in May 2022 to take a same position in Rock Island. Carl held the position on an interim basis between Thompson and Smith. And Smith appointed Gugliotta, the city’s Community Development director, as acting city manager when he took a leave of absence effective May 30.
Smith last worked at City Hall on May 22.
Wayne Carl asked to return as interim city manager
Earlier this week, Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman said that he had heard from the City Council and they were likely to move forward with an interim so Gugliotta can return to his Community Development work full-time. Third Ward Alderman Evan Miller confirmed Schwartzman’s statement, adding he believes the City Council could approve an interim city manager at its July 3 meeting.
Gugliotta said that he agrees with the decision to have Carl serve as interim city manager.
“(Carl) is familiar with the leadership role and will assist with the distribution of duties during this transition period while City Council works to fill the permanent city manager position,” Gugliotta tells WGIL.
Gugilotta noted this is also not the first time the city has experienced a gap between city managers. In 2010, Dane Bragg left in mid-August and appointed an existing department director as Interim for about six weeks before Council approved an interim city manager (Craig Whitehead) who worked for a few months beforeThompson started as city manager.
Also vacant at Galesburg City Hall are the key positions of Director of Public Works and the newly recreated position of city attorney.
Gugliotta said he’s been appreciative of city staff filling the gaps as he’s served as acting city manager.
“It is definitely more work/time undertaking both my existing position as Community Development director and acting city manager; however, I have never felt alone or overburdened due to the hard work and cooperation of all staff pulling together to complete tasks and move projects forward,” he said.
“(City engineer) Aaron Gavin has also been doing a great job as interim Public Works director. The Public Works director position is posted for recruitment, and we hope to have that position filled as soon as possible.”
Alderman: City manager recruitment a priority
Seventh Ward Alderman Steve Cheesman said he believes Galesburg’s first priority is to find a new city manager.
“Hiring a city manager should be the highest priority we have in terms of the job selection timeline,” Cheesman said. “We must be very thorough in that process and do all that we can can to get the right person in that position.
“From there, it is my view that we let the city manager hire for those positions. That makes sense for all kinds of reasons — working relationship, vision, etc.”
Cheesman said he thinks it’s imperative that that the public works director be an engineer and the city attorney has experience in municipal law.
Miller concurs with Cheesman, saying, “I’d like to wait and let the new city manager hire a director of public works.
“I think we need to be very careful of who we choose as our next city manager. They definitely need to be non-partisan. That will take a little bit of a process to do.”
Schwartzman said he believes the city could begin a national search for a city manager in July.
The mayor said GovHR — the previous recruitment firm used by Galesburg to find a city manager — is obligated by contract to conduct another search since Smith did not stay on the job a year.
Asked if securing a permanent city manager should take precedence over the hire of a director of Public Works and a city attorney, Schwartzman said, “This is a very good question and one that we will be discussing soon. The order does matter but we also need to fill empty positions as there is a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Miller said he thinks the city should once again use Gov HR.
“Instead of spending more more to do what they’ve already done, I think we need to look at what they come up with,” Miller said. “If we don’t get adequate candidates, we’ll need to look elsewhere.”
