MARQUETTE The city of Marquette has selected Karen Kovacs as its next city manager.
The Marquette City Commission voted 7-0 at its regular meeting Monday night to make an offer of employment to Kovacs, the lone finalist for the position after John Kramer of Aurora, Illinois, withdrew his name from consideration last week.
Kovacs is currently the city administrator for downstate Milan, a city of 5,800 people in Washtenaw and Monroe counties, a role she’s held since July 2019. Previously, she served as the finance director and treasurer for Milan for almost four years.
Before her stints with Milan, Kovacs was employed as a governmental accounting professional consultant for Plante & Moran PLLC. She graduated with an accounting degree and a minor in applied technology in business from Oakland University.
rspitza@miningjournal.net
MARQUETTE The pool has been narrowed down to one finalist in the search to find the city of Marquette’s next manager after candidate John Kramer withdrew his application from consideration, city officials confirmed Friday.
Kramer was named one of two finalists under consideration for the position at a Marquette City Commission special meeting Tuesday night. The other finalist named Tuesday is Karen Kovacs, city administrator for downstate Milan.
Kramer was named one of six finalists to advance to the public interview stage along with Kovacs, Dan Stoltman, Richard Downey, Sean Hobbins and Gary Simpson. The city received a total of 40 applications for the position after a national search that began earlier this year.
rspitza@miningjournal.net
MARQUETTE The Marquette City Commission was hoping to select the city’s next manager at a special meeting on Tuesday night, but the matter remains undecided.
The pool of six finalists was narrowed down to two, Karen Kovacs and John Kramer, who will participate a second interview via Zoom on a date yet to be determined.
After the commission discussed whether it should make a final vote at the meeting, it motioned 7-0 to advance to a second interview phase.
At the beginning of the meeting, each commissioner was asked to name up to two finalists for consideration. Those votes are as follows:
cbleck@miningjournal.net
A band plays at a past Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival. Organizers have announced the 2021 edition of the event has been moved to 2022 due to the continuing pandemic. (Journal file photo)
MARQUETTE The Marquette County Health Department was notified on Tuesday that genetic testing confirmed that the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 was detected in a positive case within Marquette County.
Dr. Bob Lorinser, health department medical director, noted the case represented the first time the variant has been found in the Upper Peninsula.
The variant is concerning because it is associated with increased transmissibility, the MCHD said. Compared with the standard SARS-CoV-2 virus, the B.1.1.7 variant is about 50% more transmissible, which leads to a faster spread of the virus and potentially increasing numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
rspitza@miningjournal.net
MARQUETTE The Marquette City Commission on Monday night completed an important step in its process to hire a new city manager in light of current Marquette City Manager Mike Angeli’s upcoming retirement.
The commission voted 7-0 to approve a professional services contract with Walsh Municipal Services LLC of downstate Okemos to seek out and then narrow down candidates for the position, which will be vacated by Angeli on June 1.
Angeli is set to retire after 45 years of employment with the city, most notably with the Marquette Police Department as a patrol officer and detective captain before being promoted to chief of police in 2008. Angeli has served as the city manager since 2015.