August 11, 2022 at 11:13 a.m.
Council 'reluctantly' authorizes recruitment of new city administrator
Vruwink to take position with League of Wisconsin Municipalities
Council 'reluctantly' authorizes recruitment of new city administrator
Vruwink confirmed his plans Tuesday afternoon, hours after the City Council voted "to direct staff to secure proposals and begin recruitment for a replacement city administrator."
The motion, made by city council president Eileen Daniel, came after a brief closed session discussion Monday evening. Daniel stated it was a motion she didn't want to have to make and several of the alderpersons stressed that their "aye" votes were being tendered reluctantly.
Vruwink was present but made no comment or statement during the meeting.
In an interview Tuesday, he explained that he was not looking to leave city government but the position of deputy director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities was a career opportunity he couldn't pass up.
He noted that the League is an organization that has been "really near and dear" to him throughout his entire public service, both in Rhinelander and during his two terms as mayor in Wisconsin Rapids.
"It's an incredible organization serving all cities and villages in Wisconsin," he said, noting that he's excited to share the perspective he's gained through his firsthand experience in municipal government.
According to its website, the League was created in 1898 to help Wisconsin cities and villages share ideas and learn from one another, to train and provide information to the people elected and appointed to govern those cities and villages, and to advocate on their behalf with the legislature, governor and state agencies.
Vruwink said he intends to help the city's administrative team through the majority of the 2023 budget process before his effective date of resignation on Oct. 7 and potentially provide additional "interim support" after that, depending on where the city is in terms of recruitment, selection and placement of the next administrator.
"I want to make sure that the transition goes well enough that the next person who comes in doesn't have loose ends that they don't know what to do with or can't make sense of," he said, adding that he intends to retain his residence in Rhinelander and remain part of the community in some capacity.
"I want to support the mayor and the council as we go forward," he said. "I feel passionately about the work that they're doing to improve the community."
"There is tremendous positive momentum occurring and I am particularly proud to have been a part of a management team who all have the city's challenges and opportunities in mind," he noted in his resignation letter.
For his part, Mayor Kris Hanus said he is sorry to lose Vruwink but understands his desire to take advantage of a career opportunity.
"He has higher hopes in life, so he wants to move up and you can't really stop that," Hanus said, adding that "the city is in a better spot than it was two years ago" thanks in part to Vruwink's contributions.
Vruwink first became involved in Rhinelander city government in May 2020 when former mayor Chris Frederickson hired him on an 11-day consulting contract.
At the time, Frederickson indicated that he acted quickly because he learned that Vruwink was available following an unsuccessful run for re-election as mayor of Wisconsin Rapids.
In July 2020, Vruwink went from consultant to employee when the council hired him as "temporary assistant to the mayor in his role as city administrator."
The search for a new administrator began that fall, with the help of a professional search company, Integrated Public Resources, LLC.
In late December 2020, during a discussion on the timeline for recruiting a new administrator, then alderman Andrew Larson wondered aloud whether the next administrator might be in the room.
"I have to ask, what if we have the next administrator sitting here already?" he asked, in apparent reference to Vruwink. "How does that play out? Just curious."
Ultimately, three candidates were interviewed with Vruwink emerging as the lead candidate.
The council formally hired Vruwink as administrator in March 2021.
Rhinelander has a complicated history with regard to the administrator position, having employed four full-time administrators and two interim administrators in the 12 years before Vruwink took the job.
The first administrator, Bill Bell, served from 2008 to 2011 when he left to take a job in Colorado. He was succeeded by Blaine Oborn who was the city's chief executive officer from 2011 to 2015. He left to take a job in Lake Geneva.
Following Oborn's departure, longtime city attorney Phil Parkinson served as interim administrator while the city searched for a new full-time administrator. That person turned out to be Kristina Aschenbrenner, who held the position from 2015 to 2016 when she was fired by the council.
Local attorney Keith Kost came on as an interim part-time administrator in February 2017, after the position sat vacant for approximately 5 months. Kost served until April 2018 when he quit abruptly just weeks after Frederickson's election. Former Village of Weston administrator Daniel Guild was Vruwink's immediate predecessor. He was hired in September 2018 and was placed on administrative leave just over a year later, after search warrants were executed at City Hall.
In May 2020, after Guild was charged with misconduct in office, the council voted to terminate his contract. The charge was ultimately dismissed, per the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement.
According to Vruwink, the administrator position will be posted as soon as possible and the goal is to have the new hire in place by early November.
He said he believes the position will attract interest as the city has moved beyond the turmoil of the past to become a healthy, functioning operation.
"That was one of things that gave me comfort when I was sort of evaluating, do I leave a position where I know that they had some turnover and challenge?" he said. "The confidence is in the fact that a capable of administrator with a track record, some level of experience can come here and be successful."
Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].
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