By Kristine Thomas
Susan Muir’s resume had all the attributes the Mount Angel City Council was looking for in a city administrator, said City Councilor Kelly Grassman.
The council voted unanimously to hire Muir at its March 1 meeting.
The newly appointed city administrator is currently the executive director of the planning and development department for the city of Eugene. She has a master’s degree in public administration from Portland State University.
Grassman said Muir has the respect of her peers and co-workers, strong leadership and management skills and experience in all levels of government.
“When I met her in person, she was everything her resume had represented and more,” Grassman said.
“I believe that she will be able to help us achieve our goals as a community now and in the future.”
Muir replaces Interim City Administrator Pete Wall on April 1 but she will not assume full-time duties until April 10, because she wants to complete assignments in Eugene.
In February 2009, the city council fired former city administrator Jim Hunt without cause.
Wall, who came out of retirement to serve as interim city administrator, has told Muir he will help her in any way he can. He will attend the first budget committee meeting with her on April 12 and then ramp down to an as-needed basis.
Wall said Muir is a good fit for the city of Mount Angel because she has the educational background and significant public management experience. During the interview process she performed at a high level in all aspects, he said.
“She met with department heads and other key staff and they rated her the top candidate,” Wall said.
“After the community reception, I talked with several citizens. She was the overwhelming favorite of those individuals.”
During her interview with the council, Wall said, Muir “clearly emerged as the candidate they felt most comfortable with. She displayed a warm, engaging personality throughout the process.”
Wall said during the background investigation he and others talked to people who gave Muir a glowing recommendation. “So, in summary, it was a combination of factors and she convincingly rose to the top of our list,” he said.
Mount Angel Mayor Rick Schiedler said he and his fellow city councilors are glad Muir has agreed to be the administrator and the council looks forward to working with her. “Susan has very impressive professional credentials,” Schiedler said, “but beyond that, her warm personality and the way she related to the city staff, the citizens at the community reception and the city council during her interview convinced us she was an excellent match for Mount Angel.”
Now that the council has a city administrator, Schiedler said it will need to schedule a goal-setting meeting after Muir starts that “will help her understand what the council’s priorities are. Also the council needs to work with the city staff to find the necessary resources to maintain and improve our streets.”
Schiedler said Muir’s planning background will benefit the city because she will be responsible for working with the planning commission and city staff to handle any planning or development-related issues.
Muir’s starting salary will be $80,000 and she will be responsible for managing five departments, including police, library and public works, totaling 23 employees. As the executive director of planning and development for the city of Eugene, Muir makes $129,916 a year and is in charge of about 115 employees who deal with city planning, construction permits, business licensing, land use zoning, building code enforcement, economic development, affordable housing and nuisance complaints.
Muir said she has been interested in being a city manager/administrator for a few years and knew it was going to be the next step in her career. With family and friends in the region, she also knew she wanted a job closer to them.
“When the Mount Angel opportunity was posted, I knew just a little bit about the area and then looked into it more,” she said. She recalled visiting the Abbey while a University of Oregon student to look at the library designed by Alvar Aalto. “I’ve also stopped by and bought some fruitcake there to send to my family for the holidays.”
What she knew about the city, she liked and was excited when she was called for an interview. When asked about taking a pay cut, Muir said, “Money doesn’t motivate me, being happy, productive and feeling like I’m making a contribution is what motivates me.”
Muir describes herself as a “strategic thinker who tries to look around corners and map out ways to move things forward. I’m also someone who likes to get going on projects and tasks and keep things moving. I enjoy putting all the pieces together so that things work smoothly and cohesively.”
There are number of projects she’s proud of working on in Eugene including launching a number of customer service initiatives such as increasing the hours of the public information center, doing Saturday building inspections and over-the-counter permits.
She said she also has facilitated a number of key developments, both large and small including the new $200 million University of Oregon basketball arena and the redevelopment of the historic Center Court building in downtown Eugene.
Muir, 41, likes to travel, bicycle, practice yoga and read. She’s a University of Oregon football fan and is proud owner of Evey, an English bulldog.
Muir likes the charter of Mount Angel and the fact it is a small city with great assets such as the Abbey and Oktoberfest. She added, “scenically it is just a beautiful place with great surroundings.”
“I really liked the mayor and councilors and I liked the energy they have to get going towards the future and do goal setting,” Muir said. “I was also really impressed with the stories I heard about the volunteerism and community pride that I heard during the open house.”
