A man whose career has spanned more than 20 years in municipal management has been named the new Junction City manager.

Gerald C. Smith will begin work in Junction City October 14. His employment agreement was approved unanimously by the five members of the City Commission Thursday.

Smith inherits a city deep in debt, with much of it incurred by the installation of infrastructure in housing subdivisions in anticipation of a population buildup in Junction City. Some of that did not occur, leaving lots with infrastructure such as streets, but few houses.

Speaking about that debt Smith said it’s a challenge you have to deal with on a head-on basis. “You have to understand what the implication is to the city in terms of having to manage the debt that the city entered into in order to enter into those deals, and to try to just work your way through it over the upcoming years. ” Smith added that hopefully over time projects and developments will occur. “But the city has done an excellent job with regards to servicing their debt and restructuring their debt in order to absorb the impact that is the result of the economy. So they’re in a pretty good position at this point going forward.”

Junction City Commissioner Pat Landes said Smith’s interview for the job, how he presented himself and his ideas, and the questions asked of the commission. ” He asked a lot of questions of us, and he really took the time to study our budget and budgets that we’ve had, and was able to derive kind of what our thought process was. And I think he’ll be a good fit working with our current city staff to keep moving our city forward.”

Smith will the vacancy created by the resignation of former city manager Gerry Vernon in May, who stepped down to become the City Administrator in Mission, Kansas.  Cheryl Beatty, the City’s Finance Director who was not a candidate for the city manager position, has been serving as the Interim City Manager since Vernon resigned.