Mayor Cecil Aska and City Commissioners have appointed Gerald Smith to be Junction City’s
next City Manager. The appointment was effective with City Commission approval of a City
Manager employment agreement at a special meeting held on October 3.
Smith’s career spans more than 20 years in municipal management. As director of the
Gerald C. Smith, ( courtesy of HeraldStarOnline.com )
General Services Department at Kansas City, Missouri for six years, he was responsible for an $89 million budget and 280 employees who provided purchasing, fleet and facilities
management, security, workplace safety and records management services. He had earlier
positions as the first Village Administrator in two suburban cities in the Chicago area, North
Chicago and Riverdale, where he gained experience in infrastructure projects, economic development and use of related financing tools, and neighborhood redevelopment. He has a masters degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University and has earned designation as an ICMA Credentialed Manager (International City and County Management Association). His family includes his wife of 27 years, Florence, and three grown children: Shani, age 26, Chris, age 22, and Laiya, age 18.
Smith will assume his new position on October 14. “The City Commission and staff have done
a great job repositioning the City’s financial course in the wake of a recession that negatively
impacted local governments around the country,” said Smith. “Local government has been
forced to look at the efficiency of its operations and the amount of risk assumed in order to
ink economic development deals. Junction City has already laid a foundation for moving
forward and beyond unsustainable practices. I welcome the opportunity to work with the
community as the newest member of the Junction City team.
According to Mayor Aska, after extensive resume screening, reference interviews and
background checks, Smith was selected from over 30 applicants for the position, and he
earned unanimous support from all City Commissioners. “We concluded that he has the prior
experience, public finance skills and community values for the type of leadership Junction City
has come to expect from its City Manager,” said Mayor Aska. “We are excited to welcome
Gerald to our community and look forward to his contributions.”
The employment agreement approved by the City Commission stipulates the Manager’s
compensation and other terms of employment. The new Manager’s base salary is $105,000
which the Commission established after its recent survey of comparable cities in Kansas.
Cheryl Beatty, the City’s Finance Director who was not a candidate for the position, has been
serving as Interim City Manager since Gerry Vernon resigned last May to assume a similar
position in Mission, Kansas. “Cheryl’s leadership as our Interim City Manager has been
outstanding.” said Mayor Aska. “We can’t thank her enough for going over and above the call
of duty to serve our community during this transition.”
