Ferndale to conduct public interviews with city manager candidates

By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published February 3, 2025

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FERNDALE — The city of Ferndale will be hosting public interviews Feb. 6 with the finalists for its open city manager position.

Ferndale has been undergoing a search for a new city manager since Joe Gacioch left in December for the same role in Royal Oak. After completing its search process, the city has decided on three finalists.

The three finalists are Vester Davis Jr., former city manager of Springfield; James Krizan, the interim city manager and assistant city manager in Ferndale; and Colleen O’Toole, the former city manager of Saline.

Mayor Raylon Leaks-May said a big positive for her is that all three candidates have city manager experience, which is something that not every applicant for this position had.

“All of them have appeared to have researched Ferndale and our demographics, kind of the vibe that we have here in this community, and all of them seem to be committed to taking on the challenges that we have regarding our budget, all of them seem to be committed to being more engaged with the community and allowing for … more opportunities for the community to be involved in the process,” she said. “Like we had our finance task force, where it was community driven. Those are the things that stood out to me, because that’s kind of what I championed. I really want to see more community involvement.”

The public will get to meet the candidates on Thursday, Feb. 6. From 5 to 5:45 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 300 E. Nine Mile Road, the community can meet the three and provide feedback. At 6 p.m., the council will conduct a meeting where it will interview the candidates to hear their respective visions for Ferndale.

According to information gathered from surveys of Ferndale residents, the community is looking for a city manager to focus on fiscal responsibility and budget management; help modernize city buildings, address aging infrastructure and implement long-term maintenance plans; have effective leadership to support employees and foster collaboration; strengthen trust in the community with open communication, transparent decision-making and resident involvement; and they want a candidate who will lead growth in Ferndale that also preserves community character, supports housing affordability and ensures sustainability.

The position of city manager also will work closely with the Downtown Development Authority to help grow and sustain downtown Ferndale.

Executive Director Jennie Beeker said Ferndale has a good approach to hiring and finding someone who fits the position as far as qualifications and the cultural mindset of the city, along with upholding the value that the city places in four I’s: integrity, inclusiveness, inspiration and innovation.

Beeker also stated that communication between the authority and the new city manager is very important.

“We work very closely with the city,” she said. “Our strategies have to complement each other. They should be aligned. … We’re really fortunate in Ferndale that we have such a good relationship with the city that it feels very, very close. And so we are normally 100% right on top of each other as far as alignment and I think that something like that, it’s important that we keep that close communication so that we as the downtown know what the city has that could affect us and the city knows what we as the downtown could do to affect them, but I think it’s really positive in Ferndale how well we work together like that.”

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