Bemidji City Council Picks Rich Spiczka as Top Choice for City Manager

The Bemidji City Council is one step closer to hiring a new city manager after naming their top choice for the position.

The council met Tuesday night for a candidate ranking meeting. Out of the three candidates that interviewed, five council members ranked Pequot Lakes city administrator Rich Spiczka as number one, while two ranked Sharon Eveland, the village administrator in Shorewood Hills, WI, as their number one pick.

The council made a motion to allow the search firm Baker Tilly to negotiate a contract with Spiczka.

“Ultimately, a contract still has to be negotiated with Mr. Spiczka, and that contract has to be approved by the full council,” said Bemidji mayor Jorge Prince. “So there are some steps here yet, and there’s always the possibility that that would cause some change, but we’re hopeful in moving forward that we’ve selected the best candidate. I think all of the candidates were very, very skilled and they’re very talented and it was a very difficult decision.”

If Spiczka accepts the position and comes to terms on a contract, the council would then need to reconvene for a full vote to make him city manager.