Kalamazoo City Commission resumes city manager interviews; Elle Cole outlines priorities, decision set for Monday

At a continuation of its Oct. 16 meeting, the Kalamazoo City Commission on an Oct. 16 continuation conducted a final interview with city manager candidate Elle Cole and set a decision on finalists for the Commission’s meetings on Monday.

Cole, who joined the commission via Zoom for a timed, 50-minute interview, told commissioners she sees three top priorities for Kalamazoo: managing rapid growth and its pressure on infrastructure and staffing; treating housing as infrastructure to address affordability and homelessness; and maintaining organizational and community alignment as change accelerates. "When everyone understands what's coming and why, growth becomes empowering instead of overwhelming," Cole said.

The candidate described her approach to the city manager role as translating commission priorities into outcomes and balancing vision with operations. She cited prior municipal experience including leading an $85,000,000 treatment-plant renovation, negotiating complex labor agreements, increasing fund balances from 4% to 27%, and securing grants for downtown work. "I blend the discipline of a CPA with the vision of a community builder," Cole said.

On housing and downtown redevelopment, Cole said she treats housing as infrastructure and favors coordinating incentives with community benefits such as mixed-income units and ground-floor affordability. She described convening cross-jurisdictional and nonprofit partners in past roles to coordinate homelessness responses and emphasized community outreach: "I show up, I listen deeply, and I make sure that we follow through," she said.

Commissioners asked how she would handle disagreement within a commission and ethical challenges; Cole described relying on one-on-one communication, consistent data, transparency and third-party investigations where appropriate. She recounted a past personnel matter that led to revised reporting channels, bias-awareness training and staff roundtables.

After the interview concluded, staff and commissioners reminded the public of opportunities to provide input to the city manager search. Public comment on the process will be accepted at a committee-of-the-whole meeting at 5 p.m. Monday and at a business meeting at 7 p.m. Monday; other input channels noted included the city manager search web page and physical mail to City Hall.

Commissioners also announced that one candidate, Otis Jones Sr., asked the recruiter to withdraw his name from the process. The commission said it will continue the selection process at its Monday meetings and expected to take final action then.

Commissioners used the interview to outline what they would like to see in a successful first year: improved employee trust and morale, stronger community engagement, and visible progress on housing, infrastructure and downtown implementation initiatives such as IK 2035. Several commissioners emphasized that a new manager should prioritize both technical execution and strengthening relationships with residents and staff.

The commission adjourned the continuation after the interview and administrative reminders about public comment and next steps.