NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council is getting ready to work in earnest on the permanent City Manager search. Consultant Art Davis with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP met with several stakeholder groups and with the council on Monday and the groups want to see some ongoing training.
"One or two of them had actually done research and found out that the International City-County Management Association had a Credentialed Manager status," Davis said. "It's a designation as part of ICMA. It's a voluntary credentialing program. It requires a combination of education, experience and adherence to high standards of integrity and a commitment to continuous education and professional development."
Gary Meagher let his credentials lapse, but he was a credentialed manager earlier in his career.
"You start off by taking an assessment," Meagher said. "As you can imagine, cities differ from all over the state. Some of them have airports and some of them have zoos and so there's no one that knows everything. You take an assessment. It's done by the University of Georgia. It's been validated there. Once you take that assessment, it determines which areas you really need to work on."
Then, there is a plan of action to take classes in those areas in order to gain your credentials.
"You have to have at least 40 hours per year of continuing education," Meagher said. "If you're not a credentialed manager, then you can do any kind of training, as long as it's related to city management, but if you're a credentialed manager, then you are supposed to focus on those areas that you are the weakest."
As an example, Reno County Administrator Randy Partington has his ICMA-CM credentials. The hope is to hire a permanent Hutchinson City Manager by the end of the year.