Council picks Innovative Public Advisors to lead search for new administrator

The Rhinelander Common Council has selected a firm to conduct both the search for a permanent administrayor and to provide an interim administration. The council voted 5-2 Thursday evening to hire Innovative Public Advisors (IPA), after a first motion to select the rival firm, Public Administration Associates (PAA), failed on a split vote. The city is in need of a new administrator because the current administrator, Patrick Reagan, is resigning effective Aug. 5 to take a city manager position in Michigan.
Thursday’s vote came after the council heard presentations from both firms during a special meeting.
IPA, a Wisconsin-based firm founded about a year and a half ago, was represented by partners Jess Wildes and Jay Shambeau. Shambeau told the council he has 32 years of experience with Wisconsin local governments and currently serves as interim city manager in Janesville. The firm proposed a flat recruitment fee of $13,750 — a discounted rate, the partners said — with a timeline of roughly three to eight weeks before candidate interviews would begin. IPA said it has a 100% placement success rate in its administrator searches to date and cited a network of more than 13,000 LinkedIn connections in the field.
For interim services, IPA proposed Adam Gitter, who described experience in economic development, budgeting and TIF/TID work, including having built three tax incremental districts over the past five years. IPA’s interim rate was quoted at $110 an hour.
PAA was represented by Sue McDade, a vice president with more than 40 years of municipal government experience, who said the firm has completed 500 successful administrator searches over nearly 30 years and worked with more than 250 municipalities. PAA proposed a recruitment fee of $16,000, all costs included, over a process the firm estimated would take about 10 to 12 weeks, with a guarantee to redo a search at no additional cost if a hired candidate leaves within 12 months. McDade said that guarantee has been invoked five times in the firm’s history.

PAA proposed Duane Gau of Weston as interim administrator. Gau told the council he has served as a village administrator, planning director and interim administrator in several Wisconsin communities and currently sits on the Marathon County Board, where he chairs an infrastructure/transportation committee. Asked by a council member about a potential conflict of interest given his county board seat, Gau said his district does not overlap with city business and that he checks his meeting schedule in advance to avoid conflicts. PAA’s proposed interim rate was $88 an hour plus a $45 daily per diem for travel.
During discussion, council members weighed cost, timeline and fit. Alderman Luke Kramer said he leaned toward PAA, calling Gau personable and noting his familiarity with the area. Council president Carrie Mikalauski said she leaned toward IPA, saying the firm seemed more current in its approach and more enthusiastic during its presentation.
Alderman Steven Jopek raised concerns about the use of an AI sourcing tool in candidate searches, saying he was uneasy about applying artificial intelligence to a role that is highly interpersonal. He also said he had researched both firms’ recent placements and found unspecified controversies involving both, though he said he did not believe either was necessarily disqualifying.
Mayor Kris Hanus noted the city is not likely to create or resize a TIF district in the next six months, but said development agreements are more likely, and said he saw value in either firm’s approach. He also flagged a potential conflict-of-interest concern regarding Gau’s county board service, given that neighboring communities compete for development.
Council members also compared cost. It was noted that PAA’s $88 hourly rate would effectively be closer to $110 once travel per diem was factored in on shorter visits. Mikalauski calculated that over a 24-hour work week, the interim rates were within about $393 of each other, while IPA’s lower recruitment fee saved the city roughly $2,000 to $3,000 overall.
Alderman Kramer moved to hire PAA for both the interim administrator role and the permanent search; Alderperson Linnaea Newman seconded. The motion failed when only Kramer and Newman voted in favor.
Alderman Bob Lueder then moved to accept IPA’s proposal for both the search and interim administrator services.That motion passed with the inverse vote of the first motion. Mikalauski, Jopek, Gerald Anderson, LeAnn Felton and Lueder voted in favor of IPA while Kramer and Newman voted “no” on the second motion. Alderman Tom Barnett was absent.
With the vote, IPA will lead the search for Reagan’s permanent replacement and Gitter will serve as interim administrator during the transition.
To view the full meeting, including the presentations, visit www.hodagtv.com.