Kalispell picks new manager

It came down to styles and personalities.

Kokomo, Ind., corporate consultant and former mayor/city manager Matt McKillip edged out Dayton, Ohio, assistant city manager Jane Howington as the Kalispell City Council's first choice to become its new city manager.

The council voted 5-4 to pick McKillip over Howington Wednesday evening.

The council offered McKillip a three-year contract starting at $100,000 annually -open to further negotiations.

McKillip said he wanted to bring his wife Heather and 11-month-old daughter Sara to the Flathead - probably next week - to get his wife's approval before making a final decision.

"My first inclination is that I'm very interested," he said.

If McKillip turns down the post, it will be offered to Howington.

The council interviewed five finalists Wednesday -McKillip, Howington, Joseph Frei of Columbus, Neb.; John "Jay" Krauss of Lewiston, Idaho; and Edwin Meece of Livingston. All are or had been city managers.

Mayor Pam Kennedy and council members Bob Hafferman, Tim Kluesner, Jim Atkinson and Wayne Saverud voted for McKillip. Hank Olson, Kari Gabriel, Duane Larson and Randy Kenyon voted for Howington.

Several liked both and split hairs for their decisions -with McKillip's and Howington's different personalities playing a huge role.

McKillip has a hard-charging personality - which council members saw as both a plus and a minus.

"He had spark more than everyone else," Saverud said.

Howington came off as quiet but steady with much more experience in city government - of which council members also voiced mixed feelings. She was city manager of Oxford, Ohio, -population 22,000 -from 2000 to 2007 and left with universal praise, which impressed some council members.

McKillip was mayor and city manager of Kokomo from 2004 to 2007 - recruited to run by the business community. Kokomo has a population of about 50,000 with 525 city employees.

While in office, he cut Kokomo's spending by $9 million in his first year and spent $13.5 million less than what was budgeted over three years.

Since 2007, he was chief executive officer of Katra Healthcare USA before becoming a management consultant in 2009.

He founded a high-tech consulting firm called Momentum in 1995 and was its boss until 2003. He was a Procter & Gamble executive from 1986 to 1995.

Kokomo's mayor is also its city manager with more clout than Kalispell's separate mayor and city manager each have.

Council members were impressed that when a $15 million budget shortfall - which was not his fault -'showed up eight months into his term, McKillip led Kokomo in digging itself out of that financial hole.

Council members said he has strong economic development credentials -needed since Kalispell's development director Kelly Danielson is moving to Montana West Economic Development.

"Right now, developers appear to be leading too much of the development," McKillip said of his impression of Kalispell's situation.

Some council members liked his top priority of increasing the city's tiny cash reserves.

McKillip said he reviewed city finances at every Kokomo council meeting. He also said job cuts could be a strong possibility in Kalispell's efforts to balance its budget and build its reserves.

The council's chief worry about McKillip was that his personality could push him in an opposite direction from the council's wishes. Some voiced feelings he might be too politically smooth, and fretted about him having only three years of city government experience.

"He could be problematic. … I'm nervous about him, I'm not nervous about her," Olson said.

Gabriel said: "I think it'll be a tough transition for him to go from mayor to city manager."

McKillip said he is comfortable with Kalispell's city manager-council set-up. "it's no different in the corporate world. The CEO reports to a board," he said.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com