Julie Ostrander to become director of administration

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

There will soon be another department head vacancy to fill in the city of Rhinelander.

City finance director Julie Ostrander has confirmed she will be leaving her position in two weeks to begin a new job later this month as the director of administration for the city of Lodi in south central Wisconsin.

Ostrander, who noted she began working for the city of Rhinelander in October 2008, said the position in Lodi is a “good opportunity for me to advance” with her being responsible for overseeing all the people at City Hall.

After accepting the new position Friday, Ostrander said her final day working in Rhinelander will be May 12 with her first day on the job in Lodi set for May 30.

One of the items on the Rhinelander Finance Committee’s agenda Tuesday is to discuss/approve the hiring of a finance director and setting the position’s salary range.

The city of Rhinelander in recent months has been dealing with other vacancies that include police chief, for which Oneida County Sheriff’s Office captain Lloyd Gauthier was appointed Monday by the city’s Police and Fire Commission, and city administrator, for which Keith Kost was hired earlier this year by the City Council to fill on an interim basis.

Ostrander’s planned departure doesn’t mark the first time she sought employment elsewhere while Rhinelander’s finance director. Last year she was a finalist for Oneida County’s finance director position, for which the then-deputy finance director in Shawano County, Darcy Smith, was hired to replace longtime Oneida County finance director Margie Sorenson at the end of 2016.