City administrator interviews start Tuesday
Four applicants for city administrator are currently set to be interviewed. Each interview will be held at 4 p.m. One candidate, Jeffrey LaGarce, who was named a finalist, has informed city officials he has accepted another position and is no longer available.
The candidates remaining and their interview dates are:
? Nov. 28 – Barry Baker
? Nov. 29 – Glenn A. Abee
? Nov. 30 – Richard Clark
? Dec. 6 – Donald Whitman
Baker is from Loudon, Tenn. From March 1987 until April 2006 he served as city manager of Loudon and the utility manager for the Loudon Utility Board.
From his introduction letter, Baker says he is no stranger to helping economic development.
?During my tenure, I was deeply involved in the economic development activities within the utility service area. We located over 60 new industries and helped 28 either expand or modify their operation. I was involved in the creation of a Free Trade Zone for the area. Our efforts resulted in the creation of more than 6,500 new jobs in the industrial and transportation sectors of the local economy. I coordinated the recruitment of three, and the development of four, upscale retirement communities to the Loudon utility service area, two of which are within the City of Loudon,? Baker reported.
He also helped Loudon with its limited utility system, an expansion which didn?t result in higher utility rates.
?When I became the manager, the utility systems were operating at capacity and there was no plan to improve the utility infrastructure. During my tenure the electric system has more than tripled in size, the water and waste water systems have doubled, and the gas system has quadrupled in throughput. Loudon has been able to maintain one of the lowest utility rate structures in the area during this period of expansion. Today, Loudon Utilities has the infrastructure to meet the future utility requirements without the need of utility rate increases.?
He is familiar with how to obtain grants.
?During my tenure, Loudon has received more grant dollars per capita than any other community in East Tennessee. Loudon is the only electric system to receive grant funding for the construction of electric substations in Tennessee. Loudon received two such grants. Virtually all the Water and Waste Water systems were financed by low-interest loans from the state of Tennessee.?
Information regarding the other three applicants will be in future editions of the Southern Standard.