Mike Stair 7/18/08 with three mugs
By Debbie Robinson
news@joplinglobe.com
MIAMI, Okla. — The final three candidates for the city manager position in Miami were introduced to the public Friday night in an informal event at the Civic Center.
The three candidates are Mike Randall, 54, of rural Monett, Mo.; Michael Ashcraft, 54, of Olathe, Kan.; and Huey P. Long, 59, of Safford, Ariz.
About 40 people, including many city employees and council members, turned out for the opportunity to meet the finalists.
All three candidates were given tours of the city earlier Friday.
Long, an Oklahoma native, is the current city manager in Safford and former county manager of LaPaz, Ariz.
Long was hired for the first city manager position in Spenser, Okla., when he was 21, he said.
His son, Bryan, is currently the assistant city manager in Lawton.
“All of our family lives in Oklahoma or within an hour-and-half drive from this area,” he said.
A daughter lives in Oklahoma City.
Long said he was impressed with the city and the people.
“I’ve seen the resilience of the community, especially when the B.F. Goodrich Plant closed,” he said. “It’s a community that picked itself up by the bootstraps and didn’t wait for a handout.”
Long graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmund with a degree in elementary education, then went on to earn a master’s degree in theology at International Seminary in Plymouth, Fla.
He and his wife, Tari, have six grandchildren.
Ashcraft served as organizational effectiveness consultant for the past eight years in Olathe.
“The job is like a deputy city manager,” he said.
Ashcraft said he works as a consultant that provides community surveys and methods to engage the community in city government.
He previously worked for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and lived in Edmond for eight years.
Ashcraft said he worked for former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating as head of a performance team that worked to find measures to improve governmental operations.
He also worked for the city of Tulsa as director of audits.
Ashcraft said he was impressed with Miami.
“I’m looking for an opportunity where I can commit and support, and be of value to the community,” he said. “This is a good state, and it’s good people.”
He and his wife, Jane, have two grown children.
Randall owns a consulting firm, Horizon Management Services, in Monett, and is a consultant for city government.
He also has worked for the city of Pryor and was interim city manager in Aurora, Mo.
He has worked in the consulting business since 1997 and worked for the city of Carthage, Mo., for seven years previously.
He has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Randall’s wife, Carla, is a longtime employee of Precious Moments in Carthage.
“We’re from this area, and we wanted to stay in the Four-State Area,” he said.
Randall said he is impressed with Miami and sees opportunities for the city.
“Tourism really stands out as a strong opportunity for the community,” he said. “There is a strong economic base, both business and industry combined.”
Mayor Brent Brassfield said the three candidates have executive credentials and good track records.
Public Works Director Tim Wilson has been serving as interim city manager since Michael Spurgeon resigned in November to accept a similar position in St. Charles, Mo.
City officials narrowed the field to the three candidates from a field of 51 applicants.
Cindy Morris, director of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, said Friday night she was impressed with the three candidates.
“They have a good feel for Oklahoma, and a good feel for Miami,” she said. “I think there is some strength there, whoever they choose.”
Timeline
Mayor Brent Brassfield said city leaders hope to have a new city manager hired by early September at the latest.
Local News
Miami officials introduce finalists for manager job
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
