Politics & Government

Community Development Director Will Become Interim City Administrator

Mayor expects search for new administrator to be lengthy process. Council president confident in past search techniques.

With Waukesha City Administrator Lori Curtis Luther moving to Peoria County, Illinois, city leaders will have to prepare for the budget process while searching for a new city administrator.

Steve Crandell, director of Community Development, will take charge of the day-to-day operations of the city as he moves into the interim city administrator position following Luther’s absence.  Crandell was the interim city administrator before Luther was started in Waukesha in January 2008.

The Common Council recently approved changes to Crandell's job description, which dictated he would be the interim city administrator in a situation where the city administrator would leave. The formal change to the job description reflected what was being enacted at the city.

Find out what's happening in Waukeshawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We are fortunate to have some very good staff members in (Crandell) and Finance Director Steve Neaman,” Mayor Jeff Scrima said. “We also have a director of human resources. … We will work to ensure stability in moving the city forward.”

Scrima declined to give a deadline on when he would like to see a new city administrator named and said he anticipates a lengthy process.

Find out what's happening in Waukeshawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“What is important is that we take this one step at a time and have cooperation in finding the right person for this position,” Scrima said.

Common Council President Paul Ybarra weighed in on the process that lead to the last city administrator and public works director becoming hired.

When Luther was hired, an executive search committee was formed. That committee was comprised of the mayor and several aldermen, Ybarra said, who worked with a nationwide search team to bring a candidate pool to the city.

“We had an effective process,” Ybarra said. “I hope we can do it that way again.”

While Luther’s absence will be shortly before the council begins discussing the 2012 budget, Ybarra stressed that Luther already has put a lot of effort into the budget. When asked if Ybarra was concerned about the budget process, he said he isn’t.

“I would be, but Steve Crandell has already successfully taken us through a budget season,” Ybarra said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Waukesha