City Manager for Kenai, Paul Ostrander, announced that he plans to not pursue a renewal of his employment contract with the City of Kenai when it expires on January 9, 2023. Ostrander plans to continue work as the City Manager until his next contract expires and assist in the smooth transition process.
“I’ve been talking to my wife about this decision for quite a while and ultimately, I just decided that personal reasons, it’s just time to move on in the next chapter of my life,” according to Ostrander who spoke with KSRM. “This staff here at the city right now is unbelievable and I enjoy working with them every day. I really enjoy working with the council. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with Mayor Gabriel for the last six years. Things are really good right now here at the city and I just felt like it was a good time for me to move on and pursue the next chapter of my life.”
Ostrander laid out the process for his replacement, “They’ll start a recruitment process probably relatively soon and ultimately, it’s up to the council to make the decision on how recruitment proceeds and what the timeline of that is. Typically, they advertise for the position for a period of time and then there’s a process where there’s an interview of the potential candidates. Typically, that interview is open to the public. It’s a rather lengthy process to bringing in a new city manager, but they should be starting on it relatively soon. Again, it’s really up to the purview of the Council on how they proceed this time. I’m just relaying what typically we’ve seen in the past.”
“It’s going to be an interesting process,” according to City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel. “I certainly wish him good luck, but it’s sad to see him go. I mean he was an asset to the community and some of the work that he did has been outstanding to move the city forward. He’s going to be missed, for sure. I would like to say that I appreciate him giving us some warning and some time to find a replacement and then work through transition with the new city manager because there’s a lot of balls up in the air. That transition needs to be as smooth as possible.”
A discussion regarding the recruitment and selection process will be scheduled at the next regular city council meeting on October 5, 2022. The City of Kenai has a ‘council-manager’ type of government, and the City Manager acts as the City Administrator.
Ostrander was hired by the Council on January 9, 2017, and the contract was renewed for an additional three years on January 9, 2020. When his current contract expires at the beginning of next year, he will have served as City Manager for six years.
In an email to City Council members dated September 22, 2022, Ostrander thanked council members and shared his positive experience in working together with the City Council and the city’s employees:
“After much consideration, I have decided not to pursue a renewal of my employment contract with the City when it expires on January 9, 2023. It is my intention to fully honor my contract and continue to work in my role until it expires. Fulfilling my current contract will bring me to a full six years with the City, six years that have been some of the most fulfilling of my career. It has been an honor to work with the team of employees here at the City. We are all very fortunate to have talented individuals working every day to make our City the best it possibly can be.
I have also appreciated the relationship that I have had with many Council Members over the years. Working with a team of employees and a Council with a common goal – how can we make the City a little better today than it was yesterday – was very rewarding.”
