Job offer could come next week

By Scott Bellile

The New London City Council did not extend an employment offer to any of the three finalists for the city administrator position during a closed-session meeting held Friday, May 3.

“Were kind of on hold right now,” New London Mayor Gary Henke said. “We’re doing background checks on one of the individuals, and then once that comes back, we may have a decision.”

That decision could be made at the next city council meeting Tuesday, May 14, Henke said.

At a public meet-and-greet event held Thursday, May 2, the city of New London announced the names of its three finalists: Jeff Mikorski, Kami Lynch and Lou Leone.

The next day, Mikorski, Lynch and Leone underwent another interview at City Hall and took a tour of the city.

The candidates are looking to succeed City Administrator Kent Hager, who plans to retire in June after almost 20 years on the job.

Here are the candidates’ backgrounds based on their resumes and comments they provided during Thursday’s event.

Jeff Mikorski

Mikorski served as city administrator for Verona, a Madison suburb of about 10,600 people, from 2016 until this year.

Jeff Mikorski, former Verona city administrator, shares his background during New London’s city administrator candidate meet-and-greet held at The Washington Center on Thursday, May 2.
Scott Bellile photo

Prior to Verona, he worked in larger cities in West Virginia. He served as the city manager and deputy city manager of Morgantown from 2000 to 2016 and as the director of community and economic development in Clarksburg from 1996 to 2000.

Mikorski said he reinvigorated Clarksburg’s and Morgantown’s historic downtowns through grant awards, partnerships and streetscaping.

Clarksburg’s downtown business community had taken a hit after a new interstate opened, he said.

Mikorski said of Morgantown, “It started becoming more of a student bar area instead of a downtown, so we did a lot of work trying to make improvements to bring people into the downtown and … we were able to revitalize a 1900 theater to start bringing in events.”

Other additions to Morgantown included a riverfront conference center, arts programs and a permanent location for the farmers market, he said.

A Milwaukee native, Mikorski holds master’s degrees in public administration and psychology from West Virginia University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Kami Lynch

Kami Lynch, city clerk for Appleton, speaks at New London’s city administrator candidate meet-and-greet held at The Washington Center on Thursday, May 2.
Scott Bellile photo

An Oshkosh area native, Lynch has been Appleton’s city clerk since 2015.

Prior to Appleton, she worked in Verona for five years, briefly as an administrative assistant before becoming city clerk.

“I really enjoy my position as a city clerk because I get to deal directly with the residents as well as directly with all of the council and the individuals that we’re working with on various aspects. I like the interaction,” Lynch said.

Lynch earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from UW-Stevens Point. She expects to complete her master’s in public administration next year at UW-Oshkosh.

“I have not been an administrator before. That’s no secret,” Lynch said. “Being an administrator, that’s a goal.”

As a city administrator, Lynch said she would enjoy being involved in city projects more directly than she gets to be as a clerk, she said.

“I love local government,” Lynch said. “It’s what I want to do, and I’d love to be back in a community that’s a smaller size but still has a lot going on.”

Lou Leone

Since 2015, Leone has served as the city administrator for Kiowa, Kansas, a city with a population of just over 1,000 residents.

Prior to becoming city administrator, Leone spent three years working in law in Denver, Colorado. He was a patent litigation paralegal from 2013 to 2015 and, the year prior, a legal assistant for the Office of the Attorney General.

A native of Spring Valley, Illinois, Leone possesses a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver, a certificate in paralegal studies from Loyola University Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Leone said his accomplishments as Kiowa’s city administrator include overhauling the budget when the city was approaching bankruptcy, improving the functionality of the power grid and rebuilding the police force.

“Instead of steering away from the storm, I just head right into it,” Leone said. “It’s the best way to put things down.”

Leone said his door is always open to residents and news reporters in Kiowa, and he holds town hall meetings to meet the locals.

This story was edited to correct the spelling of Lou Leone’s last name.