Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent
SHARON EVELAND
Georgia resident Sharon Eveland has been hired as Clintonville’s new city administrator.
Eveland will start her new job on April 10. The Common Council unanimously approved the hiring at a special meeting Monday.
Eveland will be paid $75,000 a year plus benefits. She will also receive a $2,000 annual bonus if she establishes her primary residence in the city and will receive a $500 bonus for a positive evaluation after six months. Her probationary period will last one year.
She will receive up to $6,000 for relocation expenses but would have to return some of the money is she stays with the city less than three years.
Eveland will work with City Administrator Chuck Kell until his contract ends on June 30.
Kell was hired as interim city administrator in 2014 following the resignation of Lisa Kotter. After the city’s first attempt to recruit a full-time administrator failed to draw much interest, Kell’s agreement was extended until the end of June.
The recent search attracted 17 candidates. After the field was reduced to seven, the city personnel committee selected the final two candidates: Eveland and Kevin Opple, of Washington. Both visited Clintonville last month.
Eveland served eight years in the U.S. Navy, working in naval intelligence. After her service, she took some time off and then went back to school at Southern University in Georgia to earn a master’s degree in municipal government. She and her husband have three children. Her husband has relatives in Madison, and they have been looking to relocate to Wisconsin.
Eveland said Clintonville is similar to Richmond Hill, where she grew up in Georgia. During her visit in February, she said she was impressed with the amount of industry in Clintonville. She said she has been successful in writing grants, and an internship included working with a fire department, and dealing with hiring issues and city contracts, but she has no direct experience as a city administrator.