By Paul Daquilante • Staff Writer • 

Amity pares city administrator candidate list

Amity has pared the list of City Administrator candidates to three finalists. They are Tony Astorga, Josie Dolenz and Nathan Frarck.

One of them will replace Michael Thomas, who resigned in early March after more than two years in the position. He recently announced he has taken a position with Hillsboro Aero Academy.

Astorga, currently a wastewater treatment operator for the City of Salem, has lived in Mount Angel his entire life.

He is a former lead operator for the City of Portland at the wastewater treatment facility and has worked as a foreman for Astro Construction Inc. (Mount Angel) setting commercial modular trailers, project manager and estimator for Michel’s Pipe Services (Salem) and a wastewater and stormwater collections operator I/GIS Teach for the City of Stayton.

Astorga has an associate’s degree in water environmental technology from Clackamas Community College in Oregon City and a bachelor’s in public administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Dolenz received her undergraduate degree in musical theatre from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. While getting the opportunity to make short films and perform in live theaters locally, she also worked in both public and private sectors, holding roles in emergency communications, project management, sales and administration.

She said she enjoyed a “robust volunteer experience” in Wichita by serving on the board of directors for Kansel; an organization focused on raising the literacy rates of young adults by providing services aimed at helping people earn their diplomas, as well as the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Program, which helps young leaders recognize their community impact.

After graduating with her master’s in public administration, with certifications in city management as well as nonprofit governance, she was awarded a City Management Fellowship role in which she has worked on projects with the Human Rights Campaign, the Wichita Police Department as well as updating policy for new hires and citizens with limited English.

Frarck described himself as a “passionate young professional who works to ensure that government organizations are informed with the knowledge necessary to make successful decisions by combining thoughtful community engagement, skilled quantitative and financial analysis, and diligent policy research.” He said he believes that government’s role is to support community growth so that everyone can thrive.

He spent last summer engaging with park visitors and conducting more than 100 surveys to provide specific feedback for a King County Parks capital project.

Frarck earned his bachelor’s in sociology with a minor in urban and regional planning from the University of Washington in Seattle. He currently is finishing his master’s in public administration at UW.

The finalists were among seven individuals who originally applied for the position, according to Mayor Rachel King.

A committee consisting of City Council members and city staff interviewed five by Zoom, she said. That group recommended the three finalists.

The committee recommended the finalists be interviewed, via Zoom, by the council, after which there was council consensus to ask the group to participate in an upcoming round of in-person interviews.

“We have sent invitations to a small group of local stakeholders and civic leaders to sit in on interviews as observation panelists,” King said.

Interviews will take place in executive session at 4 p.m. Monday, May 22 at City Hall. Community members can meet the trio at 7 o’clock that night at City Hall.

A special council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 24.

“My expectation is that a final decision should be able to be made and voted upon at that meeting,” King said.

 

 

 

 

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