KANGAS

ISHPEMING — City Manager Mark Slown was not even out the door before the Ishpeming City Council approved a candidate for the position.

In a 3-2 split on Wednesday, councilors voted to offer the position to current Chocolay Township Manager and former Ishpeming Director of Public Works Jon Kangas.

Councilor Mike Tonkin introduced the surprise motion to forgo any further interviews and offer the job to Kangas during new business at the end of the council’s regular meeting. The motion was supported by Councilor Stu Skauge, with Mayor Karl Lehmann casting the deciding “aye” vote.

“I have put a lot of thought to this,” Tonkin said. “And with the applications that I have seen, so far I have only seen one that hit the qualifications that we need for this community. I would put up for a motion that we hire Jon Kangas for our new city manager. I don’t see anyone even remotely as qualified as Jon to take care of the problems that we have.”

Councilor Pat Scanlon voted against the measure because he wanted the opportunity to interview additional candidates.

“That’s my point. We have future candidates that would be scheduled to be interviewed, and I see no reason to be jumping the gun,” Scanlon said. “I think we do a disservice to the citizens (by doing this).”

Councilor Lindsay Bean, who also voted against the measure, said: “I think if we are talking qualifications, the other two candidates that we interviewed were highly educated, specifically in the areas of public administration and city management. Although both of them lack some of the practical experience, I think it would be a mistake (to say) that they lack the qualifications because if you look at the qualifications outlined (in the job posting) they met them.

“I heard two candidates talk about leadership and one candidate talk more specifically about projects, and I think that the city needs someone who is a leader,” Bean continued. “We have a morale problem in a number of different areas, and I am not sure that Jon Kangas is the person who is going to fix those morale problems.”

Tonkin said he has heard “nothing but good” feedback from the DPW during Kangas’ time as director. He cautioned that the longer the decision to hire a manager is put off, crucial city functions will suffer.

“I have nothing against the people we interviewed. They interviewed very well. But we need someone that’s hands-on and able to run everything,” Tonkin said. “The longer we put this off — we are getting close to union negotiations, and we have a lot of stuff on our plate. There are a lot of things that need to get done, and the sooner we can get it done, the better off we’ll be.”

During a phone conversation today, Kangas said he had no comment at this time as he had not been formally notified of the council’s decision.

City Finance Director Jim Lampman was appointed by the council to serve as interim city manager until the position is filled.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242.