The search for a new Herculaneum city administrator continues after Mayor Ryan Wright’s second attempt to appoint Dusty Hosna.
Wright recommended the board hire Hosna to replace current city Administrator Jim Kasten, who is set to retire on March 26.
On March 4, the board deadlocked with a 3-3 vote to hire Hosna when aldermen Israel Clayman of Ward 3 and Norm Seithel and Chris Baker, both of Ward 2, voted to hire Hosna, and Mike Burlage and Dennis Tesreau, both of Ward 1, and Edwin Edwards Jr. of Ward 3 voted against the hire.
Wright said Herculaneum city attorney Jessica Mikale advised him at that time that at least four votes were needed to approve the hire and that the mayor did not have the right to vote to break the tie.
After that meeting, though, Wright said he researched the city’s bylaws and contacted several other area mayors to see if they had been allowed to break ties on that type of vote and came to the conclusion that voting to break a tie to hire a city administrator should be within his power.
“I discussed (his findings) with (Mikale), and she looked into it more and found some different case law that supports the fact that I do have the right to break a tie on an ordinance.”
With that knowledge, Wright decided to take Hosna’s appointment back to the board for a vote at the March 18 meeting, knowing that he could break the tie if needed.
However, that plan did not come to fruition when two board members, Burlage and Edwards, were absent from the meeting. With just four members of the board at the meeting, a unanimous vote would have been required to hire Hosna, and if all board members voted as they did on March 4, the appointment would have failed. Instead of holding a failing vote, the board decided to table the ordinance for the time being.
Wright said it is likely he will again recommend a vote to hire Hosna at the April 1 meeting.
Narrowing the candidates
Wright said the city had narrowed the applicants for the job to three strong candidates, with half of the board supporting Hosna, and the other half supporting a second candidate who was unnamed and not recommended to the board for a vote.
“I thought that [Hosna] was the best fit for us. And I think he would work well and be a better leader to lead the employees,” Wright said. “And I still think he’s a great candidate, and I’m honestly shocked they didn’t approve him.”
Wright said several board members believed the second candidate was better qualified because he has a master’s degree in public administration, has over a decade of experience and currently works as a city administrator for another city. The second candidate also spent much time in the area growing up and has ties with other Jefferson County cities.
One of the board members who voted against hiring Hosna, Dennis Tesreau, said he did not believe Hosna met the required criteria for the job.
“He did not meet the qualifications that were put out in the newspaper, in my opinion,” he said. “I thought there was somebody else much more qualified.”
The job listing, which opened in mid-November and closed December 15, included the following minimum training and experience: five years related experience and or training and a master’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience; six to 10 years of related experience and or training or a master’s degree from a college or university and one to five years of experience; or a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university and two to five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience, with a master’s degree in public administration was preferred. That job posting also included a proposed Feb. 26 start date for the new hire.
Wright said Hosna said he has worked as a police officer, a police chief, a city clerk, a building department employee, a city administrator for Valley Park for three years and then as the head of an economic development department in Chicago before recently returning to the St. Louis area.
Wright believes Hosna brought other qualifications to the job that aren’t on paper, such as personality.
“He had a lot of charisma and seemed like he would work well with others. In this job, there’s a lot of knowledge involved, but it’s also working with people, and I think Dusty would have been very good to work with,” Wright said. “And he really seemed to have a really good heart for the community.”
Wright said he also wanted to hire someone who is not from the area and who doesn’t come with any existing ties.
“I wanted a fresh face and somebody who could have a different set of eyes on things,” he said.
Tesreau, on the other hand, said he thought having someone with ties to the area was a good thing.
“I feel like it’s a positive to have somebody who knows the landscape and knows the people,” he said. “They get a head start.”
Wright said Hosna lives in Millstadt, Ill., which is about 35 miles from Herculaneum, adding that Herculaneum does not have a requirement for the city administrator to live within a certain distance of the city.
Wright also said he believes Hosna’s experience in economic development would be a plus because of the container-on-vessel port that is being developed in Herculaneum. The port eventually will see vessels with containers of cargo from around the world stop and unload there.
“He was going to help us with the port – hopefully get businesses there and get all that situated – and help me with trying to get some restaurants, some fast-food chains and some businesses in the town. And he would definitely help me do that and achieve those goals.”
Wright said he does not plan to extend Kasten’s contract beyond March 26 to bridge the gap between administrators or to provide Kasten time to show the new city administrator the ropes. The original expected hire date for a new city administrator would have given the new hire a month with Kasten before his retirement.