The Town of Culver has filled their vacant Town Manager position.
At their last meeting, the Culver Town Council voted to extend an offer after conducting interviews for the position in December. Town Council President Ginny Bess Munroe said she was satisfied with the choice.
Jonathan Leist, who currently works in the Huntington County government, accepted the position and will be moving his family to Culver. He says he completed a public administration degree to help prepare for the position.
“Ever since I finished that up about two years ago, I’ve been looking to get into the town management field, I’ve kind of been following openings, trying to stay close to where I live now,” says Leist. “When the Culver one opened up, that is one that I definitely wanted to apply for and get a jump on.”
Leist says he is familiar working with previous Culver Town Manager Dave Schoeff. He has spent the last 12 years working as Huntington County’s Solid Waste Management Director.
Given the time in which the interviews were being conducted, two new members of the Town Council were allowed to sit in on the interview process. The Town Council did not initially disclose the candidates’ name while waiting to confirm the hire.
Leist says he doesn’t have any objectives set in stone right now.
“You know, at this point, my focus was – and during the interview process – was on developing the things that are already present in the Town comprehensive plan, trying to work with that,” says Leist. “Talking with the council members, I know they had some more specific goals they wanted me to work on.”
Those include the completion of current grants for infrastructure. Leist will start in his new position on mid-February.
