Alburnett council hires Rebecca McDonald as city administrator, approves start Nov. 4

The Alburnett City Council on Oct. 29 approved hiring Rebecca McDonald as the city’s administrator, setting a $75,000 starting salary and a provisional increase to $80,000 after 90 days if agreed milestones are met.

Councilor West moved to approve Resolution 2024-39, and Councilor Trum seconded. The motion passed on a roll-call vote with Councilors Trum, Bosenberg, West and Myers voting in favor.

Mayor said the candidate pool initially included three finalists and the committee reached back out to McDonald after a prior candidate withdrew. A committee member noted McDonald comes from the Linn County Treasurer’s Office and cited experience with frontline management, municipal processes and project management as qualifications the city needs.

“I’m honored to have that chosen I’m excited to get to work,” Rebecca McDonald said during the meeting. The council reported McDonald had given tentative acceptance pending council approval and completion of pre-employment screenings.

The resolution as read by the mayor sets the start date for Nov. 4, 2024, and provides an exception for FY2 paid time off: the administrator will receive the full 10 days of PTO regardless of the start date. The salary provision includes a contingency clause that would raise the salary to $80,000 after 90 days contingent on satisfactory completion of milestones determined in collaboration with the council (the packet cited grant acquisition for a park project as an example milestone).

Council members discussed budget impacts and were told the position’s cost is split across multiple budget buckets (mayor/city manager, city clerk/treasurer, financial administration) and that staff will prepare a budget amendment to cover FY2 shortfalls. The mayor confirmed a background check had cleared and that drug-screening results were expected later in the week.

The council emphasized training and grant-writing as priorities for the new administrator. The mayor pointed to training resources including clerk school and Iowa League of Cities offerings and said grant-writing that secures even a single project could effectively pay for the position over time.

The resolution text read in the meeting packet contained a numeric transcription inconsistency in one line (it was read as $775,000 in the transcript); earlier in the packet and during discussion the intended starting salary was stated as $75,000, which the council approved.

Next steps: paperwork and pre-employment clearances; council and the new administrator will finalize milestone criteria for the contingency increase, and staff will draft any required budget amendment.