Atkins council reviews plan to recruit city administrator; recruiter outlines candidate priorities

The Atkins City Council on Oct. 1 held a special work session with recruiter Graham Valdes of Express Employment to begin a formal search for a city administrator, focusing on candidates who can lead city operations while helping attract commercial growth.

Valdes told the council the most common priorities from individual council interviews included a candidate with a vision for the town, the ability to integrate into the community and experience applying ordinances and codes to commercial planning. “Everyone was pretty common across the board of wanting a city administrator that’s going to come in and have a vision for the future of the town,” Valdes said, and he cautioned against rigid disqualifiers that could unnecessarily narrow the pool.

Why it matters: the council is recruiting for a hands-on administrator who will both manage day-to-day operations and help position Atkins for business and residential growth. Council members stressed that the right hire would need to be comfortable with both technical municipal requirements and public-facing community engagement.

Council and staff emphasized operational and documentation expectations. One staff member, Sandy, asked that the job description explicitly include supervisory duties and noted the position would “supervise All City staff,” underscoring the role’s oversight responsibilities. Council members also highlighted the practical need for someone who can improve processes, keep accurate minutes and handle routine administration without constant oversight.

Valdes laid out the planned recruitment steps: post the job on multiple boards (ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, Indeed, Facebook and the city website), conduct initial video screenings and two recruiter-led interviews, then forward a short list of finalists for council interviews. He recommended interviewing several finalists together when feasible, and said finalist interviews before council would typically be in closed session if candidates request it; he also noted that finalist names generally become public when they meet the council.

On salary and timing, Valdes recommended not publishing a fixed top salary in the public posting to avoid deterring otherwise qualified applicants and suggested language indicating the city plans to hire “ASAP” to create urgency. He also offered to provide weekly funnel metrics (numbers of applications received, screened and forwarded) so the council can monitor progress.

Council members discussed required skills and experience. Many described budgetary competence and the ability to hold departments to budget as a core requirement; grant-writing and active grant pursuit were described as a secondary skill that could be supported by consultants if needed. Candidates’ desired years of experience were discussed in a range from roughly three to five years or more, with the repeated caveat that demonstrated ability to handle the town’s specific challenges mattered as much as tenure.

Staffing and scope: councilors and staff said the new administrator would directly oversee four city staff positions and functionally oversee additional services (approximately 25 roles when volunteer fire and related functions are counted). They said functional oversight and demonstrated ability to manage multiple technical areas (water, wastewater, roads, parks) are important for the role.

Governance question: several council members raised the idea of requiring a supermajority vote to hire a city administrator and asked staff to draft possible language. Members debated whether a formal resolution or motion is the right tool and noted legal and practical implications; no binding change was adopted during this session.

Next steps: Valdes will finalize the job posting and begin active recruiting immediately. The recruiter will return weekly updates on outreach and screening progress and will forward finalists when the search yields suitable candidates. Near the meeting’s close a motion to adjourn was made; the transcript excerpt records the motion but does not include a formal vote tally in the provided text.

The council did not take a hiring vote at this meeting; the search and recruitment process will continue with candidate screening and subsequent council meetings to interview finalists.