Brighton City Council names Genoa Township woman new city manager

Brighton officials have offered the city's finance director a new job as city manager.

Brighton City Council voted Monday to select Gretchen Gomolka for the top administrative role.

Gomolka has already been doing the job of city manager in Brighton for more than a month.

She became acting interim city manager following the resignation of former city manager Nate Geinzer.

"I feel more relaxed now. I'm energetic to start," she told the Livingston Daily following the city council's vote Monday to offer her the appointment.

Council had whittled down the candidate pool to three out of the 38 hopefuls who applied for the job. The city hired Walsh Municipal Services to perform the search for about $14,500.

By Monday's meeting, two job candidates remained, Gomolka and Michael Womack, who is currently serving as the city manager of Cedar Springs in Kent County.

Genoa Township Manager Michael Archinal had been the third finalist, but he withdrew his name from consideration before Monday's night's meeting, Brighton Mayor Kristoffer Tobbe told the Livingston Daily before the final interviews began.

"I did a lot of soul searching and at the end of the day I didn’t feel I was a good fit," Archinal said Tuesday.

The woman who will manage Brighton

Gomolka stepped into her role as the city's finance director about six years ago. She lives in neighboring Genoa Township.

She earned a master's degree in accounting from Eastern Michigan University. She worked in public accounting as an auditor for East Lansing-based Plante Moran for about eight years before joining Meridian Township as the township's finance director, a post she held for about three years.

During her final interview, Gomolka said acting as the city's interim manager brought her a new sense of confidence in her professional abilities.

"I built some confidence in areas I didn't know I had," she said, adding that it gave her a opportunity to build relationships with more downtown merchants and other stakeholders in the community in a new way.

She said believes she has good working relationships with city staff.

She also thanked city officials for providing her encouragement when she stepped into her interim role.

During her interview, she talked about her plan to see through several city infrastructure projects, also mentioning a couple of large residential developments planned in downtown Brighton.

The city is gearing up to overhaul the downtown streetscape, including sidewalks, road and Mill Pond park improvements, next year.

Gomolka said there are important issues to work out with the streetscape plan, including figuring out the city's bonding capacity. She also said it will be important to support downtown businesses and events during construction.

When it comes to Brighton's residential growth, the city is nearly built out, but two large projects for new homes are moving forward.

The city approved a luxury apartment complex on the Mill Pond earlier this year. The city also settled a lawsuit with a development group gearing up to build townhomes at the former site of the shuttered Lindbom Elementary School.

Several residential developments proposed in Brighton have sparked opposition from some residents worried about the city becoming too densely populated.

Gomolka expressed understanding of both sides in her remarks to city officials.

"I think, generally, people don’t like change," she said during her interview.

She said in her experience, including when she worked in Meridian Township, many people struggle to envision what a new housing project would really be like before its constructed.

In the case of the Lindbom school property, she said, "I think once this development happens, it’s going to be really beautiful and a gem and raise the home values around it."

She also urged city officials to gauge future development by how upcoming construction works out.

"We want to tamper too much, too fast," she said. "Let's see the impact."

Unanimous support from city council

Councilmember Paul Gipson made the motion to offer her the position,

Gipson said she has "brought a sense of peace" to city hall.

"The biggest issue facing our city is going to be money, and I don’t think anyone has as much experience," Gipson said.

Councilmember Susan Gardner complemented Gomolka on her communication skills and work ethic, also commenting on how she worked beyond business hours on a city audit.

"We did not see this coming," Gardner said about needing to hire a city manager, "yet she saw the need and I feel she felt the need to step up."

Councilmember Renee Pettengill said Gomolka has "changed the atmosphere" in city hall since she became interim city manager.

"We know she’s not afraid to disagree with us," Pettengill said. "But she handled it very professionally."

Tobbe said he has seen Gomolka leave her comfort zone and stretch herself.

"I want to be there to see her develop into a Rookie of the Year in the city of Brighton," Tobbe said.

Gomolka has been offered the position. Her official hire date is dependent on contract negotiations and a customary background check.

As acting interim manager, she will continue to fulfill the obligations of the position and also continue acting as finance director, for now.

She said she is prepared to continue juggling the two jobs, while the city works on the latest audit and looks for a new head of finance.

Another finalist was under consideration

Womack told the Livingston Daily before the final interviews one of the reasons he applied for the position was to challenge himself professionally as a public administrator.

"Brighton represents slightly more complex problems than I'm used to," in Cedar Springs, which has about 3,700 residents. Brighton has about 7,600 residents.

He said his primary interest is in economic development.

"I've taken an aggressive approach to economic development," he said.

Womack has served as city manager of Cedar Spring since 2016. He currently resides in Algoma Township.

He attended law school at Thomas M. Cooley Law School after receiving his bachelor's in philosophy from Oakland University. He also achieved a master's in public administration from Central Michigan University. He practiced law, focusing primarily on criminal defense, for about eight years making a career move to public administration.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. 

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Genoa Township resident Gretchen Gomolka named Brighton city manager