Dec. 9—Community members can meet with the finalists hoping to become St. Joseph’s next city manager on Tuesday evening at City Hall.
City officials have scheduled a meet and greet from 5 to 6 p.m., on Dec. 10, in the lobby of City Hall to allow community members to meet and visit with the four candidates vying for the job. City officials have said they hope to have a new city manager hired by the first of the year.
The finalists, Robert S. Cowell Jr., Jason A. Gage, Darron J. Leiker and Mike Schumacher, will be participating in a two-day process on Dec. 10 and 11, which includes a community tour, engagement sessions with city staff and community stakeholders and extensive interviews by the City Council.
The finalists were selected following a nationwide search that produced 26 candidates from 15 states. All have Missouri or Kansas ties.
Cowell has more than 30 years of experience in local government management and served as city manager in Roanoke, Virginia, from 2017 until this year. He previously was the deputy/interim city manager in Amarillo, Texas, and also worked in planning and development leadership positions in Texas, Indiana and Missouri.
Gage has more than 25 years of local government experience, including 20 as a city manager. He has been the city manager in Springfield, Missouri, since 2018, previously holding that job in Salina, Kansas, Stillwater, Oklahoma, and De Soto, Missouri.
Leiker was the city manager of Wichita Falls, Texas, from 2005 to this year. He worked previously in Salina and Sterling, Kansas, before migrating to Texas. He has degrees from Washburn University and Wichita State University, both in Kansas.
Schumacher has more than 34 years of experience in local government and has been the current city administrator in Lebanon, Missouri, since 2018. Before that, he was an assistant city manager in Kansas City and has a degree from Central Missouri State University.
The man selected for the job will replace Bryan Carter, who left the city this fall for a job in the private sector. Clint Thompson, the city’s director of planning and community development, is currently filling the role of interim city manager.