BUCKEYE — After Tuesday night’s meeting, the city of Buckeye could officially have a city manager on duty with a start date.
The council has decided to go with Dan Cotterman, a city of Goodyear deputy city manager, as its next city manager.
His start date and salary will be made public after council votes to ratify his contract, which is on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
The 6 p.m. meeting will be held at City Hall, 530 E. Monroe Ave. A 3:30 p.m. workshop will focus on the capital improvement plans of the Engineering/Public Works Division and the city’s airport.
At a Feb. 3 special meeting, council unanimously directed staff to enter into contract negotiations with Cotterman for the position of city manager.
“Mr. Cotterman is a strong leader with extensive experience in city management for a complex organization, like Buckeye,” Mayor Eric Orsborn said in a Feb. 3 news release. “He checked all the boxes the council was looking for in a new city manager — a resident of Buckeye with firsthand experience with our community’s assets and challenges, knowledge of our local water situation, experience managing a fast growing city and providing innovative ideas to streamline processes. He was also highly recommended by his peers, colleagues and the business community.”
The search was set in motion last August when Roger Klingler announced he’d be retiring. The recruitment process led to a pool of 42 applicants, with council interviewing Cotterman and two other finalists in closed session Jan. 25.
Klingler was hired on at a annual salary of $195,000 in early 2017.
The Daily Independent is still in the process of obtaining information on the other two finalists through a public records request.
Council considered and discussed with each of the three candidates individually possible employment with the city, along with city department managers and stakeholders in the Buckeye community.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda are a Buckeye Aquatic Center parking lot expansion, which will cost more than $1.5 million
There is also a $327,000 project to keep Public Works employees and equipment shaded from direct sunlight, final plat approval for Victory at Verrado Phase 3C / Unit 3 and a call for election for the Aug. 2 Council primary for Districts 4, 5 and 6.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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