Baxter Selects Three Finalists for City Admin Position

Three finalists will soon be interviewed to fill Baxter’s city administration position.

Baxter’s city council shortlisted three finalists from a pool of nine Tuesday. The nine were shortlisted from 28 applicants by David Drown Associates, who is assisting with the administrator search. The top three will be interviewed July 28 and 29 in Baxter.

The finalists are:

• Patrick W. Antonen, Centerville, Iowa, is currently city administrator in Centerville, which has a community population of about 5,500. Antonen is a doctoral candidate at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion.
• Kevin C. Flanagan, Fairfield, Iowa. Flanagan was previously city administrator/planning director for the city of Fairfield with about 9,500 residents. Flanagan has a master of public administration from North Georgia College and State University.
• Michael Rietz, Barnsville, city administrator for city of Barnesville. Reitz has a masters of arts and public administration from Hamline University in St. Paul and a law degree from Hamline. Barnesville has a population of more than 2,563.

Former city administrator Gordon Heitke retired late April after seven years on the job. Kelly Steele, assistant city administrator, has been serving as acting administrator since the end of April.

There are plans for a public meet-and-greet July 28, followed by interviews the next day. Candidates would also be able to tour the city with staff members that Friday. All interviews are expected to conclude by noon July 29.

The city is hoping to fill the city administrator position by the end of August.