Sheboygan Common Council approves new city administrator, planning and development director

SHEBOYGAN – Sheboygan has a new city administrator and director of planning and development, following unanimous Common Council approval Monday evening.

Casey Bradley will assume the city administrator role Oct. 23 after almost a year of the position being vacant. The Common Council put former administrator Todd Wolf on leave in November. He was then fired in January.

Bradley was one of two finalists for the position, narrowed down from more than 30 candidates selected through a nationwide search.

The other candidate was Jesse Thyes, who has been Grafton’s village administrator since 2016.

At the Monday meeting, City Councilperson Dean Dekker thanked Mayor Ryan Sorenson, GovHR, the public management consulting firm that facilitated the search, and city employees for their work during the time without a city administrator.

“I would especially like to recognize our director of Human Resources, Adam Westbrook, for guiding us through this process,” Dekker said. “And shout out to all the employees who provided valuable feedback to the council during this process. This was truly a team effort.

"Lastly, I would like to welcome Mr. Bradley to Sheboygan. I believe he will make a great addition to our team," Dekker added.

As city administrator — which Westbrook told the Sheboygan Press in May is the highest-paid city position — Bradley will make a base salary of nearly $161,000, according to his employment contract.

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Bradley has served as Baraboo’s city administrator since 2020. Before that, he was the Adams County coordinator for three years and the auditor and chief operating officer of Stutsman County, North Dakota.

Bradley also served in the U.S. Air Force for six years. He has master’s degrees in public administration from Penn State University and accounting and financial management from Devry University, respectively.

He was born in Baraboo and grew up in New Lisbon.

Bradley was a finalist for city management positions in Beloit, Wisconsin, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, this year, too. He was eliminated from the Beloit candidates earlier this year and recently withdrew his name for the Oak Ridge position, according to Tennessee-based news outlet Oak Ridger.

New director of planning and development will start Aug. 28

The Common Council also approved Sorenson’s appointment of Diane McGinnis-Casey as the new director of planning and development.

McGinnis-Casey will assume the role Aug. 28, which has been vacant since Chad Pelishek, who held the role for about 13 years, resigned in May.

“Diane is passionate about making our community a better place,” the city hiring group said in a letter to the Common Council.

She is currently the community development administrator for La Crosse, focusing on Housing and Urban Development programs, neighborhood revitalization and economic development plans, according to the letter. McGinnis-Casey was formerly Vernon County’s resources and community development director.

The hiring group added she has been a “great advocate for housing.”

Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner. 

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Common Council approves Casey Bradley as city administrator, Diane McGinnis-Casey as planning and development director