HUTCHINSON, Kan. — New Hutchinson City Manager Kendal Francis will begin his full time duties with the city January 9, according to a release from the city on Wednesday.
Francis is moving from Great Bend with his family before the first of the year.
He received his certified public manager accreditation from the University of Kansas in 2011 and his master’s certificate in public administration from Kansas State that same year.
Francis is an active member of the Kansas Association of City/County Managers (KACM) and is an International City/County Manager Association (ICMA) Credentialed Manager.
Francis has worked for cities in Kansas for 28 years, the first half of that on the water and wastewater side.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a wastewater treatment plant operator in Beloit from 1994 to 2007 and foreman of the water plant from 2007 to 2009, before being named Director of Water/Wastewater Operations in March of 2009 and holding that job until January of 2014.
He then became City Administrator in Lakin for a year and a half, then Coffeyville for not quite three years, before coming to Great Bend in July of 2018.
Interim City Manager Gary Meagher has been serving Hutchinson since Jeff Cantrell's contract was not renewed in mid-May.