Woulfe named North Branch interim city administrator

North Branch has tapped a familiar face to serve as its interim city administrator.

Lynda Woulfe, who served as city administrator for Cambridge for 14 years, will assume a similar role at North Branch starting Monday, July 8. She was unanimously approved for this role at a special meeting of North Branch's council held Monday, July 1.

Mayor Kevin Schieber gave the credit for the city connecting with Woulfe to council member Peter Schaps.

“Council member Schaps and I met with [Woulfe] on the phone, and we set up a meeting on Friday, June 28,” Schieber said. “We discussed Ms. Woulfe’s background, and we let her know our ongoing tasks this summer while she would be here, so she knew where we were heading.”

Schaps said his motivation to seek out Woulfe as an interim solution was the resignation of Jason Ziemer as interim city administrator and economic development director, which was effective on Friday, June 28.

“We were faced with a situation where I thought our city clerk [Ragini Varma] would take that [city administrator] role, but it became obvious that would not be the case,” Schaps said. “It came to me that Ms. Woulfe had retired from Cambridge and was working for a number of communities in our area, so I got on the phone to locate her.

“We talked for a bit, and I was happy to get her call. She seems eager to come to North Branch and help our administration.”

Woulfe has more than 35 years of local government experience, including the 14 years as Cambridge city administrator. She also has worked for Pine City, Goodhue County, the city of Red Wing and the League of Minnesota Cities. Most recently Woulfe has served two stints as an interim city administrator for Braham.

“She’s a very experienced city administrator, and I think she will provide supportive leadership and guidance to our department heads,” Schieber said of Woulfe. “I thought that was very important, especially with everything that is going on.”

Woulfe will be paid a weekly salary of $1,440 for 32 hours per week, working Monday through Thursday for a total of 32 hours per week. She will be a full-time employee, not a contract employee, and will serve until a full-time replacement is found.

Schieber said the city will continue its search for a permanent city administrator.

Finance Director Sharon Wright and Police Chief Dan Meyer will serve as the city administrator at times Woulfe is not available.