The Adrian City Commission held a special meeting on Aug. 14, 2025, to interview finalists for the city administrator position and set a timeline for next steps, including a public reception tonight and a planned deliberation — and possible vote — at the commission's Monday meeting.

Commissioners questioned candidates about budgeting, strategic planning, transparency and crisis response during panel-style interviews that featured a mix of current municipal department heads and career city managers. At the end of the session the search consultant said she would provide consolidated public feedback to commissioners the next day and attend Monday's meeting to support deliberations.

The interviews drew sustained attention to three recurring themes: fiscal management, community engagement and the ability to coordinate across departments and external agencies. Chad Ball, introduced at the meeting as a police chief with roughly 30 years' experience, described creating a civilian oversight committee and emphasized the need to pair trust with verification in execution, saying, "You have to make sure the execution is there. So trust but verify that the work's being done and make sure it's aligned with the strategic plan." Ball told commissioners he oversees a roughly $32,000,000 police budget and works with a broader community budget he described as about $150,000,000.

Jeremiah, introduced as the city's parks and recreation director, discussed long-term projects and the phased approach the department is using on the Bone Pool renovation, telling the panel the project required "continual conversations with our residents" and that the phased plan responds to cost and community expectations. He also described using the City’s FIA state funds and public engagement tools such as a Citizens Academy to explain budgets and operations to residents.

Will, identified as the utilities director, walked the commission through the department's asset-management plans for water and wastewater systems and recounted the department's response to a taste-and-odor event in 2018. Will said his department has completed nearly $19,000,000 in capital improvements over about 11 years and emphasized using data — for example, counts of main breaks and televised sewer inspections — to prioritize replacements.

Other finalists presented similar themes: Alex emphasized using project-management tools to track strategic-plan implementation; one candidate who identified as a CPA stressed multilayered public transparency and said he tries to limit budget amendments; another candidate with long municipal experience recounted leading a multi-year water-pipe replacement and working to restore municipal fiscal stability after a period of state oversight.

The search consultant, Amy, told the commission she will consolidate the public feedback forms and candidate reception input and deliver that summary to the commissioners tomorrow; she said she will attend Monday's meeting, at which commissioners may choose to enter negotiations with a candidate, seek additional candidates or schedule additional interviews. "We will be providing consolidated feedback to the commissioners tomorrow," Amy said during the meeting.

Public comment included one resident asking whether an eventual hire would relocate to Adrian and how involved the administrator would be in community life beyond City Hall.

Votes at a glance: the meeting included routine procedural votes. Commissioners approved the meeting agenda by roll call (motion moved by Commissioner Behnke; seconded by Commissioner Gauss; all voting yes) and later approved adjournment (motion and second not specified; all voting aye).

Next steps: a public reception with the candidates is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. the evening of Aug. 14 at City Hall. Consolidated feedback from the reception and comment forms will be delivered to commissioners the day after the interviews; the commission indicated it will deliberate Monday and may take a motion that night.

The interview format and the follow-up schedule kept the selection process public and iterative: candidates were asked the same core questions and provided examples of budgeting, crisis response, cross-department project management and public outreach. Commissioners indicated they expect the consolidated public input before Monday's deliberations.

(See accompanying structured details for candidate excerpts, formal actions, provenance and clarifying numbers.)