Brainerd City Council Makes Decision On City Administrator Position

Jennifer Bergman

The Brainerd City Council has made a decision on the new city administrator position. After a thorough search for candidates, Jennifer Bergman has accepted the position. The city administrator position opened up two months ago after Cassandra Torstenson left to return to her hometown.

Bergman is currently the executive director of the Brainerd Housing and Redevelopment Authority. An important quality the city council was looking for with the city administrator position was stability, as this will be the sixth administrator in the last seven years.

“We do need stability, we need someone that looks outside the box and says, ‘how can I improve the community, how can I improve the culture of the community,’ and Jennifer is one of those people that can,” said Brainerd Mayor Ed Menk.

“We offered her a contract, from my understanding she accepted the contract; she is going to be one of the leading individuals in our community, bring this into the next phase of our community which is growth,” added Menk. “She has helped build the downtown, she’s helped build the city as far as housing, and with her housing background she’s going to make certain our housing stock improves.”

Bergman is expected to begin her position as Brainerd City Administrator sometime after the first of January.