City of Urbana Announces Executive Search Firm Selection

The City of Urbana is pleased to announce that Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Georgia has been selected to conduct the recruitment for the City Administrator position.

Slavin Management Consultants (SMC) is an independent management consulting firm with extensive experience conducting executive-level searches for municipalities. Throughout their history, the firm has placed more than 850 professionals in positions of local government leadership and has demonstrated a proven track record of engaging highly-qualified minority candidates. Recent clients include Peoria County, Illinois; Branson, Missouri; Iowa City, Iowa; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The search will be led by Robert E. Slavin, President of SMC, who will serve as the primary project consultant; he will be assisted by David Krings, SMC Midwest Regional Manager and Paul Wenbert, SMC Western Regional Manager. Together, these consultants offer more than 100 years of expertise in the fields of municipal government, financial management economic development, and human resources.

Mr. Slavin and Mr. Krings are scheduled to visit Urbana on Oct. 2-3, 2017, and will present an overview of the recruitment and selection process to the Urbana City Council on Monday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the Urbana City Building. The meeting is open to the public and all are welcomed to attend; the meeting will also be broadcast on UPTV (Comcast Channel 6) and archived on the City’s website at: www.urbanaillinois.us/city-council.

Reinstating the City Administrator position is a cornerstone of Mayor Diane Marlin’s “Foundations for the Future” budget plan for the current fiscal year. The selected candidate will provide leadership in areas such as economic development, strategic planning, and policy implementation. About the Consultants Robert E. Slavin, SMC President Robert E. Slavin is recognized as a pioneer in public sector and nonprofit executive searches. As one of the best known and respected professional recruiters in the business, he is a frequent speaker before professional groups and has written numerous articles for professional journals concerning governmental management.

With a career spanning 50 years, Mr. Slavin’s experience bridges the public and private sectors. He currently heads the executive search practice for Slavin Management Consultants, with clients ranging from state and local governments to nonprofit organizations and private sector businesses across the United States. He was previously a principal consultant with the government search practice of Korn/Ferry International, the largest private sector search firm in the world. He also served as Assistant City Manager/Director of Human Resources for the City of Beverly Hills, California. His professional experience includes search assignments for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee and by special invitation, he assisted the United States Office of Personnel Management to define and establish the Senior Executive Service for the Federal Government.

Mr. Slavin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Santa Clara, and has completed the graduate course work for a Master's degree in Public Administration at California State University at Hayward.

David Krings, ICMA-CM, SMC Midwest Regional Manager
Mr. Krings is internationally recognized as a state and local government management practitioner and consultant. Mr. Krings has served as the County Administrator in Peoria County, Illinois and Hamilton County, Ohio; both Hamilton County and Peoria County received national recognition for innovative, quality management during Mr. Krings’ tenure. He holds a M.A. in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. from Carroll College (Waukesha, Wisconsin).

Paul Wenbert, SMC Western Regional Manager
Mr. Wenbert has more than thirty years of professional local government experience including 24 years of executive level experience, with 13 of those years as a city manager. Most recently, Mr. Wenbert completed seven years of service as Deputy City Manager of Mesa, Arizona. His career highlights include: chairing the “Keep Maytag in Newton” task force which facilitated retaining more than 2,000 jobs, adding 440 jobs and generating $41 million of investment; instituting productivity improvement programs in Newton, Iowa and Villa Park, Illinois which resulted in more than $3 million of savings; directing an $80 million, five-year Capital Improvements Program budget in Ames, Iowa; and receiving the ICMA Program Excellence Award for Collaborative Children and Youth Initiatives. Mr. Wenbert earned his Master’s in Public Administration degree from Arizona State University and his Bachelor of Science degree From Indiana University. He is also an ICMA Credentialed Manager. He joined Slavin Management Consultants in 2007 as Western Regional Manager, headquartered in Mesa, Arizona.