Mayor: New City Manager Search Will be Thorough

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. – Peekskill is in search of a new city manager, but Mayor Mary Foster said officials will not be rushing to make a decision.

Foster said the city council will start talking to search firms in early January to help find qualified candidates to replace outgoing City Manager Rick Finn, who will step down at the end of the month. She said the council will first work to get each department running smoothly.

“We will be sitting down with the two new council members in very early January, maybe a weekend or evening, where we will sit down and revisit the process that started last March of setting goals and objectives and making sure it’s clear what our priorities are so the staff can continue to follow through on them,” Foster said.

The mayor said that replacing Finn was not as urgent as it might have been in years past due to the experience of the current city staff and said Deputy City Manager Brian Havranek, who is now the acting city manager, has taken that role before.  

“We have people who have been in their position for a few years and they know what their projects are and they know how to get stuff done,” Foster said.

Finn, who submitted his resignation on Dec. 2, said the resignation was due to personal matters and said he was in a difficult position since his wife lived several hours away in upstate New York. The city charter requires the city manager to live within city limits. Finn had drawn criticism from some residents for his management style and what some said was a lack of responsiveness.  

Foster said she wanted to see if employee search firms had new ways for screening candidates that would allow the city to get a feel for whether a candidate would be a good fit with the city.

“Especially if someone has to relocate – that’s a big commitment,” Foster said. “You really want to make sure that the fit is there and it will work before people make substantial commitments.”

Foster said she hoped that the city might find a candidate with local roots.

“There tend to be more regional strategies so it is helpful if it’s somebody who really understands this area and this region and the unique opportunities and sometimes the unique challenges,” Foster said. “It’s lot to get up to speed on so somebody closer to the area may have an easier time picking up on it.”

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