By James Day
Silverton residents have an opportunity to meet the three finalists for city manager with a Monday, Sept. 18 meet-and-greet session 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Silverton Senior Center, 115 Westfield St.
Silverton is seeking to replace chief administrative officer Ron Chandler, who left the city in May to retire to Utah. Members of the public will be able to ask the candidates questions and submit feedback to the council via comment cards.
The three finalists were winnowed by the City Council from 27 original applicants at executive sessions on Aug. 21 and Aug. 28. Councilors hired Scott Dadson of the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments to conduct the search.
The finalists are:
Ben Burgener: For the past four years Burgener has been the city administrator of Stanfield, a 2,000-population town in Umatilla County in Eastern Oregon. Previously he served as city manager in Ada, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, including a Master of Public Administration. Burgener also worked as a finance and administrative services manager for the Utah Department of Transportation.
Will Ibershof: Ibershof is currently chief operating officer of KSR Healthcare. From 2018 until earlier this summer he was city administrator for Sultan, Washington, a town of 4,650 about 25 miles east of Everett. His municipal government service began in 2001 when he became a council member for Duvall, Washington, a city of about 8,000 just east of Seattle. He served as mayor of Duvall from 2005-2017, while working professionally for Cherry Valley Associates as a consultant and as a public sector manager for Waste Management. Ibershof has a bachelor’s in communications from the University of Puget Sound and a master’s in public administration from the University of Washington.
Cory Misley: Misley is a project manager for Oregon solutions with the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University. He previously served for three years plus as city manager in Sisters and as city manager for La Pine. He also served one year in Washington, D.C., as an apprentice with the Center for Sustainable Communities. Misley earned a bachelor’s in political science and psychology from Portland State and master’s in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Sept. 18 will be a busy day for the candidates. In addition to the public session, they will receive a tour of the city and meet with two interview panels, one consisting of the city councilors and the other the city’s department heads.
The City Council plans to meet in an executive season on Thursday, Sept. 21, for its final deliberations.
