Oakwood Law Director Robert Jacques, Springdale Finance Director Katie Smiddy, Centerville Public Works Director Patrick Turnbull and former Vandalia City Manager Daniel Wendt remain in the running from the 23 applicants.
All four have had initial interviews with city council, but have not had second-round talks since Oakwood announced them as finalists Aug. 16, Mayor Bill Duncan said.
“I think the council was unanimous in the sense that they thought they were the best four,” Duncan said. “The council did not rank them at the time. They just said, ‘we think these are the best four people who should proceed into the next step — the next step, which is still to be determined.”
Duncan said the four finalists were expected to meet with Oakwood senior staff last week. Council will meet with the city’s management team, as well as representatives from Management Advisory Group, LLC, the consulting firm for the process.
“We should know a lot more after Wednesday,” Duncan said.
Klopsch has been with the city for 32 years, 22 of them as its top administrator. He is scheduled to retire Nov. 1, Duncan said.
Jacques has been law director for the city of Oakwood since 2011. He graduated from Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and worked at several Dayton-area law firms before joining the city government.
Smiddy previously worked for Butler County, the city of Montgomery, and Hamilton County, where she was chief financial officer of the Community Action agency.
Turnbull has worked as the director of environmental services for Montgomery County. He was an engineer for the U.S. Navy and Miami County, along with other civil engineering firms. He has a master’s degree in public affairs from Wright State University.
Wendt resigned as Vandalia city manager in June after some turmoil. He previously worked for Fairfield as an assistant city manager, and for Norwalk, as director of public safety and service.
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