Vacura Named As Le Mars City Administrator

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars City Council has named Jason Vacura as the new City Administrator. Vacura had been appointed to the position of Assistant City Administrator when Bill Cole had vacated the position, back in December of 2015.  Prior to the
promotion, Vacura served as the city’s Building and Code Enforcement Officer. When former city administrator Scott Langel had passed away, Vacura was named as Interim City Administrator. The city formed a committee consisting of Council members Rex Knapp and Steve Wick, along with Mayor
Dick Kirchoff to conduct a search for the new city administrator through the services of a professional job position recruiter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kirchhoff says the committee met with four different professional recruiting services before selecting Richard Fursman with Huelife. Fursman met with city council members, city staff, and the city’s department heads to get a better idea of the city’s needs for a city administrator. Council members Wick and Knapp spoke favorably of Vacura’s
accomplishments, both as the city’s Assistant City Administrator, and as the city’s Interim Administrator. Kirchoff says he has worked side by side with Vacura for the last ten years, and spoke highly of Vacura’s past work and capabilities as a city official. Kirchoff says the committee considered whether it should look at individuals outside the city. But upon the suggestion of Fursman, as well as with many other factors, the committee
felt confident in Vacura. Kirchoff says Vacura is already familiar with past, present, and future city projects including the “Community Betterment II Projects. The Le Mars mayor says with another individual it may have taken up to a minimum of six months before the individual would be familiar with the city’s programs. The city council voted 5-0 in favor of hiring
Vacura as the new city administrator. Vacura will be paid an annual salary of $130,000.  After the appointment, Vacura thanked the council and city staff for their support of his work.