WHITEHALL — The four finalists for Whitehall city manager fielded questions from dozens of residents in a 90-minute community engagement session last Thursday at The Playhouse at White Lake.
The session capped a long day for the candidates - Robert Near, Dustin Stambaugh, Adam Kline and Daniel Tavernier, the latter of whom ultimately received a conditional job offer from the city council the next day after formal interviews. Nate Geinzer, CEO of Double Haul Solutions, which the city contracted with to help with the recruitment process, said the quartet had been at it since 10 a.m. that day, including a similar engagement session with local business leaders earlier that afternoon.
"When we do a search, we like to integrate the candidates into the community more before they come in and do an interview," Geinzer said. "Interviews can be uncomfortable enough as it is, so today, day one, was acclimating them to the community, giving them an inside look into the operations, the staff, seeing the different facilities, finding out the projects, learning the challenges, interacting with the community."
Each candidate shared his enthusiasm about potentially taking the position. Near had the most obvious local connections, having graduated from Shelby High School and currently living in Montague. However, Kline said he had vacationed in Whitehall in the past and was familiar with the area through his son's high school wrestling career at Goodrich High School, which faced the Vikings at tournaments.
Tavernier, the final choice, served in the U.S. Coast Guard for nearly 20 years prior to seeking the city manager position, most recently as director of operations in Buffalo. He said he's planned his post-military career from early on, when he sought a master's degree from American Military University and decided to major in emergency management, reasoning it would translate well to city government. He felt his work in operations - as director of operations, he oversaw the allocation of significant resources and said he had experience being forced to deal with unexpected budget changes as well - prepared him well for a community-focused position like Whitehall's.
"It's not a foreign concept to step into a role in a city," Tavernier said. "I can apply things I've seen in dozens of other places. I've taken a lot of lessons learned from everywhere I've been. I think that will translate well into this community."
Stambaugh, who has served as a city administrator at three other stops, felt his experience in that role was an asset, as was his experience serving in the U.S. Army as a program manager. Near, meanwhile, expressed a desire to serve his local community after serving in the Michigan veterans affairs department. Kline, too, had military experience via the Army and has been a police chief and township manager.
Geinzer said in his time at Double Haul, this search produced a remarkably high number of candidates with military experience. However, that didn't come as a big surprise to him, as he felt leadership abilities developed in the service translate to a city manager role.
"There were others that were not selected for interviews that were still pretty impressive on paper," Geinzer said. "It seems to be that we're seeing a growing interest in the city management and local government profession from what I would call public sector-adjacent industries, like the military background.
"We had a great day with them. It was very busy. They're all solid. I don't think there's a wrong choice to make here."
