Finalists field questions for Oak Ridge city manager's job

Two finalists fielded nearly a dozen questions from the public Wednesday ranging from how to deal with dilapidated commercial buildings and an aging infrastructure to recruiting and retaining quality employees as they vie for the Oak Ridge city manager's job.

About 50 people showed up at the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center for a 45-minute question-and-answer session with the two candidates chosen by the Oak Ridge City Council as the finalists for the job. The two are:

• Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides, who most recently was city manager in Duncanville, Texas.

• Randall W. "Randy" Hemann, town manager for Mooresville, North Carolina.

Their introductory statements and answers to questions were succinct with neither meeting the three-minute mark for each response established prior to the forum. W. Lane Bailey, senior vice president for GovHR USA, the executive search firm the city council hired to help in hiring a new city manager, asked the questions. He said about 20 questions were submitted by the public online. By a flip of a coin, Hemann went first in answering questions, while Ferrell-Benavides and her husband, Ted, went backstage where they could not hear the questions or answers. Likewise, Hemann and his wife, Paula, departed out of earshot for Ferrell-Benavides' responses.

The two were in Oak Ridge for two days, Wednesday and Thursday. The council will decide who to offer the job to at a special-called meeting set for 4 p.m. Friday in the Municipal Building courtroom. It is open to the public.

Randy Hemann

Hemann said he was born in Huntington, West Virginia, and he and his brothers are the first generation of his family to go to college. His resume shows he has a bachelor's degree in political science from Marshall University in Huntington and a master's degree in public administration from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. A large portion of his career has been focused on development in the North Carolina areas where he's worked - Salisbury, Kinston and Benton. He indicated economic and downtown development has also been big parts of his role as town manager in Mooresville, assistant city manager in High Point, and city manager in Oxford, his three most recent positions, all in North Carolina, jobs which he's held from 2013 to now.

He said the pleasures of his jobs have been "creating places that people enjoy."

He said about 18,000 non-residents a day come into Mooresville, which he said is not unlike Oak Ridge. Asked about what he thought was Oak Ridge's greatest attribute, he said the "great sense of place and people." Although research is key to Oak Ridge, he said, the green space, trails, and quality of life are key to the area.

Those attributes perhaps fit in with his hobbies, asked about later. He listed fly fishing, any type of fishing, kayaking, reading and too many hobbies to be able to do.

Bailey asked how he deals or would deal with expanding the infrastructure and deal with the aging infrastructure. That question was followed by one asking how he'd deal with "derelict" commercial buildings.

He said investing in the infrastructure over a period of time is needed so the government doesn't fall behind. Hemann said commercial buildings couldn't be treated any differently than housing, but he'd had the ability elsewhere to do stabilization through liens and city codes.

Asked about dealing with problems with roads that are not city roads, he said in some cases he's had to seek other funding sources to go ahead and do the projects on behalf of the city, and in other cases, had to continue to lobby for the other governmental entity to do the work.

Hemann said he treats employees with respect when asked about recruiting and retaining qualified employees. He said he listens to them and their ideas, but knows that they also have to be paid living wages. He said they need to be paid well enough that they can't get higher wages elsewhere and that sometimes mid-year adjustments in pay have to be made.

Aretha Ferrell-Benavides

Ferrell-Benavides said she was raised by her parents and grandparents and followed her mother, who worked 29 years for the city of Fort Worth, Texas, into public service.

In her 30-year career, she said, she's worked as a city manager in three cities. Her resume shows those cities were Duncanville, Texas; Petersburg, Virgina; and Glenn Heights, Texas. Other positions have included an executive trainer for Strategic Government Resources, an executive search firm; deputy secretary for the district of Washington, D.C.; assistant county/city administrator for Los Alamos County, Los Alamos, New Mexico; city manager assistant for Sunnydale, California; deputy chief of staff for the Chicago Housing Authority; chief information officer for the city of Chicago; assistant to the governor's chief of staff in Annapolis, Maryland; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intern; and other positions.

She has a bachelor's degree in political science from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a master's degree in public administration from Howard University in Washington, D.C., as well as training in other university venues. She was fired by a 4-3 vote of city council in Duncanville this year, which GovHR President Heidi Voorhees told The Oak Ridger is not that unusual. "It is typically due to a change in the political dynamics of the elected body," Voorhees said earlier.

"I am looking for a place to call home," said Ferrell-Benavides, who said she and her husband enjoy traveling as a hobby. She said her relaxation can also be found in cooking and she enjoys cooking and bringing in food for the employees she works with.

Like Hemann, she said the natural beauty of Oak Ridge - which she said has to be protected - along with the people are the city's greatest attributes.

In regard to dealing with expanding infrastructure and the aging infrastructure, she said growth is part of the future and needed resources should be sought after by talking to federal officials, lobbying for the funds and saving by the city.

Ferrell-Benavides said in one of her previous jobs she talked with state officials to allow the city to tax blighted properties at a higher level. She also mentioned financial incentives and the fact that many of the owners of the blighted commercial properties live outside the area or state.

In regards to dealing with the problems on non-city roads, she said the city and county worked together in Petersburg, Virginia. In Texas, she said, the public was invited to give their opinions on where to put a turn on one road.

How to recruit and retain quality employees? Ferrell-Benavides said her husband Ted, a former city manager, always said to hire someone smarter than yourself. She said the talent needs to be reached early. She spoke of internships and mentorships for younger people; executive development and coaching for current employees.

Banning books and the first six months

Both Ferrell-Benavides and Hemann had similar responses when asked questions about dealing with the issue of people wanting books removed or added to the libraries - as well as what they'd be doing the first six months if hired as Oak Ridge's new city manager.

"I really believe in freedom of speech," Ferrell-Benavides said. Both she and Hemann talked of the process to evaluate books and evaluating the complaints in the cities where they've served.

Ferrell-Benavides said the world is changing and the needs of the whole community need to be addressed. Hemann said it's a touchy subject but it has to be dealt with diplomatically.

When asked what they'd do during their first six months as city manager, both candidates spoke about getting out in the community and listening to people. Ferrell-Benavides said she'd be very visible; talking to people at community meetings. Hemann said he wanted to listen and find out what is on people's minds.

Mark Watson retired in May after serving as Oak Ridge city manager for 12 years.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

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This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Finalists field questions for Oak Ridge city manager's job