Interim administrator Kristina Handt named among three finalists

Forest Lake’s 8-month-long search for a new city administrator continues to move forward with its new hiring firm Express Employment/Specialized Recruiting Group as the council announced three finalists. Among them is interim city administrator Kristina Handt. The council also named Jon Radamacher, a former city administrator for Little Falls, and Shawn Metcalf, a former city administrator for the city of Hastings, Nebraska, as finalists alongside Handt.

A date has yet to be announced regarding any interviews with the finalists.

Interim’s changing interestHandt, who was previously the city administrator in Lake Elmo, was hired in January for the interim role after the city fired then administrator Patrick Casey. There had been early interest by both the city and Handt in her taking on the permanent role, but Handt was also a candidate for the same role in other cities, including Columbus, at the time. Because of other cities’ interest in Handt, the city requested then hiring firm DDA HR, which the city had contracted with for the search, to schedule an interview specifically for Handt. DDA HR, though uncomfortable with the idea, scheduled the interview, but it was called off before the interview happened in early March. Discussions had led the parties to believe it might not work out due to pay and some of the focuses of the role. Handt then pulled her name from contention, and other semi-finalists were selected.

But the city struggled with that list, nearly ending the contract with DDA HR, Inc. Six finalists came to Forest Lake to interview for the role, and while the council largely agreed upon Joe Gaa as their top candidate from that pool, the council indicated they weren’t comfortable enough with Gaa, and asked Handt again if she’d be interested.

She declined at that time as she reiterated her claim that the role wasn’t a good fit , citing the role’s large handling of the airport as an example; Gaa also declined.

It’s unclear why Handt’s interest has changed; The Times did not receive a comment by press time from Handt.