By James Day
The Silverton City Council is in the home stretch in its effort to hire a new city manager.
The council is seeking to replace Ron Chandler, who retired and moved to Utah in May.
Councilors, who started with a batch of 27 applicants, have reduced that list to three, with the finalists introduced to the public on Sept. 18.
It was a busy day for Ben Burgener, Cory Misley and Will Ibershof. They went through a rotation of a city tour with public works maintenance division supervisor Mike Dahlberg, an interview with the councilors, an interview with a panel of city department heads and then appeared together at the evening public session.
Councilors met again on Sept. 21, in an executive session to further discuss the candidates but no word was available at Our Town presstime regarding an offer being extended to any of the candidates.
All six city councilors as well as Mayor Jason Freilinger were on hand for the public session. Also on hand were State Rep. Rick Lewis, a former Silverton city manager and police chief, former councilor Dana Smith, Police Chief Jim Anglemier and volunteers and board members from nonprofits such as the Senior Center and Sheltering Silverton.
After introductory remarks by Freilinger, the three candidates introduced themselves and then engaged in group conversations with the approximately 30 people on hand.
Here is a brief background summary:
Ben Burgener: For the past four years Burgener has been the city administrator of Stanfield, a town of 2,000 in Umatilla County in Eastern Oregon. Previously he served as city manager in Ada, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, with a master’s 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 as city manager in Sisters and three 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.
All three candidates have strong Pacific Northwest experience. All three have master’s degrees, a key criteria for the councilors. All three have served as a city’s top administrator. And all three have experiences that add to their strengths. Burgener has public sector experience with the Utah Department of Transportation. Ibershof has lengthy private sector experience and also served as a mayor in Washington state. Misley’s resume includes policy work with think tanks on sustainability and Oregon solutions.
Councilors hired Scott Dadson of the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments to conduct the search.
