Jun. 6—EAST GRAND FORKS — The city of East Grand Forks is one step closer to hiring its next city administrator after council members and Mayor Steve Gander selected four finalists during their City Council meeting Tuesday.

Former City Administrator

David Murphy

resigned in April to take a city administrator position in St. Joseph, Minnesota. In March, council members approved hiring David Drown Associates as the recruiting firm to help find the next administrator.

Liza Donabauer, a management consultant with David Drown Associates, presented council members with the next steps in the hiring process. The position was advertised in April, with 20 applicants having been received. Of those, seven were moved forward as semi-finalists.

On Tuesday, council members selected their top three choices based on the background information provided for each. Donabauer informed council members that the names and identities of the semifinalists are still considered private, non-public information. That means council members don't know where the candidates currently work or reside.

The finalists are set to travel to East Grand Forks on June 26. They will tour the city, speak with the various department heads and have a formal panel interview at the end of the day with council members and Gander.

Gander said allowing the finalists to meet with the various department heads is important.

"This is a team we're building here and that chemistry is so important," he said.

In addition to meeting with council members and department heads, Gander said identifying key community stakeholders to whom the finalists can speak also will be beneficial.

Council members also agreed to offer travel reimbursement for the finalists, including mileage reimbursement and a one-night stay in East Grand Forks.

At the end of their meeting, Gander expressed his excitement in moving forward with the hiring process.

"It's going to be pretty exciting going forward as we narrow it down and make a selection and then get back to doing the people's work," he said.

In other news Tuesday, council members:

* Approved a memorandum of understanding with Birds Ride Inc. to allow electric scooters in the city. Grand Forks already has an agreement with Birds Ride Inc., and has had electric scooters in the city for almost a year.

* Voted 4-3 to adopt a resolution recognizing Juneteenth, June 19, as an official holiday after the Minnesota Legislature approved observing Juneteenth starting this year.

* Approved transferring $471,534 from the city's General Fund to the city's Sick Leave Accrual Fund.