A community meet and greet was held Wednesday night at the Crookston Inn for the four candidates interviewing for the position of City Administrator with the City of Crookston. A special Ways & Means meeting will be held Thursday morning to interview each of the four candidates, followed by a special City Council meeting at noon to select the next City Administrator and approve a resolution to conduct contract negotiations.
SALLY DUFNER
Sally Dufner is the interim Dean of Business, IT, Education for St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Dufner said she has 16 years of administrative experience in addition to being an educator. “I’m originally from Washburn, ND,” said Dufner. “I currently reside in Albertville. I have a husband, Jake, who is home with me. Currently, I am with St. Cloud Technical and Community College. I have 16 years of administrative experience, so I love managing people, projects, finances, and even complaints. The past two years, I served as interim Dean of Business, IT, and Education. I’m an educator, a business instructor SCTCC, and prior to that, I managed Albertville Premium Outlets for almost 15 years.”
Dufner said she applied for the position because she’s been interested in city administrator for a number of years. “I’ve been interested in city administrator for a number of years,” said Dufner. “While I was at Albertville Premium Outlets, I attended city council several times to address any concerns they had with the outlet center. And I’m very passionate about city government. And, so, I’m interested in growing Crookston and working with all of the area businesses, residents, to make Crookston the best place it can be.”
Dufner said her first impression of Crookston was that it’s very welcoming, and people are proud of the community. “Oh my gosh, it’s been very welcoming,” said Dufner. “I’ve met a number of wonderful people who are very proud of their community. They’d like to see it grow a little more and make sure we are marketing it in the correct way.”
CHASE WAGGONER
Chase Waggoner is the former City Manager and Director of Public Safety for the City of Williams, AZ. He said he’s been involved in local government since 2006. “I’m originally from the Missouri Ozarks,” said Waggoner. “My wife, Sarah, and I have been married since 2012. I’ve been in local government since 2006. Been a city councilman, a city administrator, a fire chief, and a city manager across the country.”
Dufner said as a kid he wanted to attend the University of North Dakota and enjoyed the area, which drove him to apply for the position. “Honestly, when I was a kid, my plan was always to go to the University of North Dakota,” said Waggoner. “I’ve always loved this area, this part of the country. And just something I’ve wanted to do. The people up here are always so friendly, and I’d like to continue my career in city administration. Thought this would be a great place to try my hand.”
Waggoner said he was impressed with Crookston, and if he didn’t know the city’s size, he’d have thought the town was much larger. “The town, for a city of about 8,500 people, really carries itself a lot bigger with the university, the amount of businesses, the downtown district,” said Waggoner. “If I didn’t know, I would think it’s a lot larger city, which I was pleasantly surprised with.”
AMY FINCH
Amy Finch is currently the City Clerk for the City of Ottawa, KS. She said he’s lived in Ottawa most of her life and has three sons. “I have lived in Ottawa for most of my life,” said Finch. “I have three sons. One is an adult and lives on his own. One is going into his junior year of high school, and one is going into the seventh grade.”
Finch said she was attracted to Crookston because of the university, the outdoor recreation opportunities with the Red Lake River, and Crookston Public Schools. “I am one class away from finishing my master’s in Public Administration,” said Dufner. “I have served six years with the City of Ottawa. Two as the assistant city clerk and four as city clerk. And feel like it is time to start taking my career to the next level. I was pretty picky about where I put applications in. Crookston attracted me because of the university in town, the river, and outdoor recreation activities, as well as the school and those offerings.”
Finch said she’s found Crookston charming, and enjoyed many of the stops on the city tour. “I think it’s charming,” said Finch. “I love the historic downtown. Ottawa also has a Carnegie Building, that was our library. It’s now our cultural arts building. The university was fantastic. We got to see some of the parks, the new housing development with the lake behind it, and I understand there will be a new RV park. I took a tour of the school today with the principal and superintendent, and I enjoyed that at the high school.”
DANA SCHOENING
Dana Schoening is currently the Director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Sweetwater, TX. Schoening said he was raised in northeast Wisconsin and is married with two grown children. “I’m currently with the City of Sweetwater as the Director of Planning and Development,” said Schoening. “I’ve been there for close to a few years. I have a wife, two children, out of college, and doing well. I grew up in northeast Wisconsin. I went to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. I started working with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, and from there, I’ve moved into municipal government where over time, I’ve assembled some skills and capabilities. I learned along the way a lot about municipal government.”
Schoening said he applied for the position because he thinks his skills and experience match what Crookston is looking for. “I think Crookston, kind of understanding what I believe they are looking for in this position, I can look back at my experience, and I’ve got some skills and abilities I think will fall in very well,” said Schoening. “My area of emphasis has been planning and community development or the physical development of communities. I’ve done some strategic planning. Always have been as resourceful as I can with funds, bringing them into communities to try to build some capacity for programming. And a lot of it’s been working with other organizations in the community to try to get everybody on the same page and moving in the same direction. The position is very appealing because I can, I think, best use the skills I’ve attained at a high leadership level.”
Schoening said he found Crookston to be a clean community people seem to take pride in and believed it’s a community that could continue to grow. “First thing, it’s a very clean community,” said Schoening. “Very evident from what I saw that property maintenance is very important. There is a lot of pride. I think I could see that clearly going around. We did a tour today, so it was nice to see some of the nicer facilities. It looks like certainly, the community is investing back into itself, which I think is very important. And to continue to do that would be even more important. It’s a very nice community. It’s well laid out, and I think it has a lot of potential down the line to keep on growing if this community wants too. And I think I can lend them that, to get that way.”
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