City Commissioners Unanimously Select Geinzer for Interim City Manager

Traverse City commissioners voted unanimously Monday to select former Brighton City Manager Nate Geinzer to serve as the city’s interim city manager. Geinzer, who told commissioners he doesn’t intend to apply for the permanent city manager role, said his goal was to assist the city during its transition, create a collaborative working environment for staff, and rebuild trust with the community after the abrupt departure of former City Manager Marty Colburn. If Geinzer agrees to terms during negotiations this week, a contract could be on the commission’s agenda for approval as soon as next Monday.

Geinzer, the founder and CEO of municipal and organizational consulting services firm Double Haul Solutions and the city manager of Brighton from 2016 to 2022, was one of two candidates interviewed during a special commission meeting Monday morning. The other finalist was George Korthauer, who most recently served as city manager in Oneonta, New York and was previously city manager of Petoskey for 25 years. Geinzer and Korthauer were chosen by commissioners from a list of 11 potential candidates to interview to temporarily step in for Colburn, who signed a separation agreement earlier this month. A third finalist, Ryan Cotton, withdrew from consideration because he works for a firm – GovHR USA – that intends to respond to the city’s RFP to lead a national search for a permanent city manager.

Geinzer and Korthauer were interviewed separately but each asked the same questions Monday by commissioners, who took turns posing queries to the candidates. When asked about challenges facing the city, Geinzer said the commission’s “number one challenge right now is trust” following Colburn’s departure, the reasons for which were never fully explained publicly. “The way everything was kind of played out in the press didn’t do anyone any favors,” he said. Geinzer said he would work to be “as accessible as possible” as interim manager, maintaining a “100 percent open door policy” with commissioners, staff, and residents and sending out a weekly report with updates on city issues to keep commissioners informed.

Trust was a recurring theme in Geinzer’s interview, including when he was asked about his leadership style. Geinzer said one of his strengths was his ability to “build and work with teams,” and that he wanted to collaborate with city employees and serve as a resource for them. “I’m not a micromanager,” he said. “My job is not to tell people what to do. My job is to create to an environment where people can be successful. That’s what a real leader does.” Geinzer said one of his first actions would be to meet with city department heads to learn their upcoming projects and priorities. He also offered to bring in a facilitator to hold a workshop with commissioners and staff on working effectively as a team.

Geinzer acknowledged that trust can also be one of the biggest challenges for interim managers given the temporary nature of their roles. “It can be hard for folks to get comfortable in an interim environment and maybe be willing to try things different under an interim,” he said, adding employees sometimes question whether they want to take risks or open up to an interim manager because that individual won’t be their long-term supervisor. “That’s going to be the biggest thing,” he said. “I would say probably the same is true on a community level as well. That’s going to take a little bit of time...but I'm going to do my darndest to do what I can in the time that I'm here.”

Geinzer told commissioners he had no plans to apply for the permanent city manager role. “You will not see me as a candidate,” he said. “This is not a foot-in-the-door type thing for me. I’m here to help you through this transition.” Geinzer said his tenure would ideally last no more than six months, emphasizing the importance of the city getting a permanent manger in place in a timely manner. But he reassured commissioners that neither would he leave the city in a lurch. “I will make sure I'm here until you're comfortable with your selection,” he said. “I’m not going to leave you in a tough spot.”

While an interim manager is vested with the same powers as city manager under the city charter, Geinzer said he would be cautious in certain types of decision-making, particularly when it comes to hiring and firing. He said he could likely work with staff on filling the city’s open finance director position, but would shy away from hiring a new police chief (Chief Jeff O’Brien is retiring in June). Geinzer said he hoped an internal candidate could serve as interim chief until a new city manager was hired and could have the final say in selecting their next police chief.

Geinzer concluded his interview by saying he hoped he could work with commissioners to rebuild trust between the board and community. “Traverse City is a great community,” he said. “I know what you’re going through right now is not the easiest. I do believe that...together we can work to improve that over time.”

Both city commissioners and staff pointed to Geinzer’s comments on trust, healing, and collaboration in their support of his selection. “Nate said at every turn what I was thinking and was hoping for,” said Commissioner Linda Koebert. While Korthauer was also well-liked by commissioners – many noted the other candidate had decades of managerial experience and gave concise, knowledgeable answers to questions during his interview – Koebert and others pointed to a difference in personalities and leadership styles that gave Geinzer the edge.

“I thought that Nate might deliver at the end of this period a more healed community than he would be given when he first got here,” Koebert said. Commissioner Mitch Treadwell noted that Geinzer attended listening sessions on Zoom over the weekend on the city’s master plan and that it was clear he had prepared and done his homework on Traverse City. “He’s not a stakeholder in our community yet, but he’s trying to understand more about what is underway and if he does step into this role, how he can hit the ground running,” Treadwell said. Mayor Richard Lewis said both Geinzer and Korthaeur were qualified for the job, but that Korthauer was more “old school” and Geinzer was “of the new school.” That difference could “help make that switch for what’s going to be needed for the long term of this community,” Lewis said.

Commissioners unanimously voted to authorize staff to negotiate contract terms with Geinzer as their first choice, with Korthauer to receive a back-up offer if terms can’t be reached with Geinzer. The interim manager position is not one that receives benefits; instead, a contract would stipulate an hourly, weekly, or monthly salary rate for Geinzer and how many hours he’s committed to work in the role. Staff said they would immediately notify Geinzer Monday of his selection and begin working on negotiations; if terms can be reached, a contract could appear before commissioners as soon as next Monday for approval.