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<br />Wesi'Linn Tidings :: City picks manager finalists
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<br /><<Bj:IGk to Local Heg.dlines
<br />City picks manager finalists
<br />~jmJjgrt - 09/28/05
<br />After a series of interviews last week, two finalists emerged from a quintet of semifinalists
<br />for the position of West Linn city manager,
<br />Neal Beets of Roseville, Minn" and Chris Jordan of Lake Oswego are the two candidates
<br />given the nod after visits with local residents, department heads and the council.
<br />A comprehensive background check has been accomplished during the week, and the
<br />city council is expected to meet soon to further scrutinize the two hopefuls before
<br />announcing its selection,
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<br />Neal Beets
<br />Currently city manager of the city of Roseville, Minn" a suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul
<br />area, Beets has served in municipal management for the past four years,
<br />After a childhood in northern Virginia, Beets earned a bachelor's in political science at the
<br />University of Virginia. After a tour of duty in the Army, he entered law school in Arizona
<br />and started a 21-year career as an attorney.
<br />Significant in that career is the fact that he was the city attorney for the city of Mesa, Ariz.,
<br />for 14 years.
<br />"Then I decided that I had mined all the gold there was to mine in the field of law," he said
<br />during a public debate last Friday. "I decided that I wanted to be more of a leader, more of
<br />a manager of a city."
<br />Roseville, he says, has a good quality of life for its 34,000 residents, but he says West
<br />Linn also has the quality of life he desires,
<br />As a city manager, Beets says he would be active in all aspects of the community,
<br />"I think a city manager has to be extraordinarily visible and engaged and active in all
<br />facets of the community," he said, "I would anticipate service on service clubs; I would
<br />anticipa~ being involved in youth sports, since I have a 10-yearcold and a 12-year-old;
<br />and I would envision working with the chamber and speaking before the neighborhood
<br />associations - any and all. opportunities to get out and be seen and be heard and begin
<br />to share:a dialogue about what is most important for West Lirih:as you move into the
<br />future:':' . . . .... .
<br />Beets pledged to be a line of conduit between the council and city staff.
<br />"The city manager's role is absolutely critical and pivotal," Beets said, "in making sure that
<br />council understands what staff does, why it does it, how it does it and the reasons behind
<br />the recommendations (pros and cons). In turn, the city manager conveys to the staff the
<br />city council's policy direction:'
<br />
<br />Chris Jordan
<br />For the past five years, Jordan has served as the assistant city manager of the city of
<br />Lake Oswego, Prior to that he assisted the city manager for five years, managing the
<br />city's open spaces and other special projects.
<br />Prior to his service as interim city manager for the city of Oregon city, he worked for 10
<br />years in the executive office of the President of the United States, in the Office of
<br />Management and Budget. Over those 10 years, he was a pOlicy a'nalyst, budget examiner
<br />and acting chief.
<br />He graduated in 1985 from Cornell University, with a bachelor's degree in history and
<br />government, and currently resides in Lake Oswego with his wife, two daughters and one
<br />son.
<br />A candidate for the same West Linn position four years ago, Jordan says he would still
<br />love to work in West Linn, since it has values and expectations that are similar to his
<br />current city of residence.
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<br />mhtml:file://C :\Documents%20and%20Settings\J ohn%20&%20Teri\Desktop\Beets%20job%20search%... 10/24/2005
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