New city admin candidate considered

The City of Red Oak has a new candidate under consideration for the vacant city administrator position.
On Aug. 16, the city hosted a meet and greet for candidate Lisa Kotter. In July, the city had a meet and greet for three candidates, but all withdrew their names from consideration.  
Kotter, who grew up in Milwaukee, Wis., said she has served as a city administrator in a number of locations throughout her career.
“I’m currently the city administrator in Cascade. I worked in two cities in Wisconsin, and transitioned to the Quad cities both on the Illinois and Iowa side before coming to Cascade. I’ve been in city administration since I was 25, so I’m going on 30 years,” Kotter said.
During her tenure, Kotter said she’s been administrator in cities of various population sizes.
“The smallest city I worked in was my first city, which was a population of 1,500. My largest city I worked in, and for a very short time, as it was very political there, was Moline, Ill. That city had a population of 40,000. The majority of my time, 17 years, was in a town that was just slightly smaller than Red Oak in the high 4,000s, and down in the Quad cities I was in a community that was around 6,000 or 7,000 people, just slightly bigger than here. I’ve mainly worked in small communities,” commented Kotter.
Kotter shared her reasons for wanting to make the move from Cascade to Red Oak.
“I think a lot of it is just making a good fit. You want to know that the people you’re working for kind of have the same values as you in local government, more so than physical location. That’s important for me after so many years. I value being a city administrator, I enjoy local government and making sure the city’s values are met and enforcing things in how the city evolves as a community based on what future goals are,” advised Kotter. I’ve met with the city’s elected officials and have learned more about what their goals are for Red Oak, which is very beneficial.”
If selected, Kotter said one of the biggest assets she would bring to the community is her experience.
“After 30 years, there’s not a lot of things I haven’t experienced. It’s just about going back on that knowledge base, even if you’re in a different county and there are different players. Also with that experience, from a staff perspective, you can provide leadership to the staff and keep them in tune with the elected officials,” stated Kotter. “I believe I’ll have a great ability to help inform and communicate the needs of the community to the elected officials, so they feel good about the decisions that they are making. The unique thing about democracy is that there’s a lot of great things and you bring people together from all walks of life who have lots of different experiences and then those elected are asked to make policy choices in these small communities. You want them to feel good about their decisions and keep them informed. That’s where I see the role of department heads and myself, making sure we provide them with the information they need to make well-informed decisions.”
Kotter shared some of her immediate priorities should she take on the Red Oak administrator position.
“In the early goings, I’d mainly be trying to get to know everybody and spending time with them. Obviously relationships are key, so I want to make sure I have an opportunity to get to know the staff and the department heads. I’d also focus on meeting with and getting to know the elected officials, and the business community such as Elaine Carlson at the Red Oak Chamber and Industry Association and Steve Adams with the Montgomery County Development Corporation to learn more about economic development. From there, I can gather what everyone has for their priorities, such as the mayor and especially the council.”
Establishing those relationships, Kotter said, can help her establish a timeline for those priorities.  
“With the city being in the middle of some of the things they are, like the utility rate reviews and things like that I can then establish what’s most important to them right now and find out what they want me to dive into. I like to work and I work a lot. Even though I’m not from the community, as a city administrator you need to embrace the community you’re in, get involved, and get to know people. I think that’s the most important thing in the beginning,” Kotter commented.
Kotter said she got to Red Oak the evening of Aug 15 and did a solo tour before taking several tours on Aug. 16.
“The first tour was more industrial, the second was a historical tour, and the third was cultural. We visited the Wilson Performing Arts Center and the Montgomery County Family YMCA and took a drive past the school.”
Kotter said her impression of Red Oak has been a very positive one.
“It’s been great to see a small community like this have such great assets. It’s not always about money, it’s about people’s willingness to give of their time and their talents. Red Oak has great things like the Wilson and the Y and there’s certainly strength in the industrial park and urban renewal areas,” Kotter stated. “The downtown is beautiful, and it’s nice to have this downtown square and a beautiful park. I’ve not been here before because I don’t usually veer this far south, but there’s a lot of great assets here and we’ll have to see where we all get together if it’s a good fit.”