By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Five finalists for the position of city administrator in Cedar Falls met with community members on Thursday for an opportunity to chat with interested parties at the Marquee Lounge at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.
This was the public-facing round of an extensive interview process, which includes being vetted by a consulting company, and later, once shortlisted, having in-person interviews with city council members and the mayor.
At the meet-and-greet, cookies and coffee were served but it appeared they remained untouched for the most part as those present were clearly more interested in getting a chance to meet the candidates and gauge for themselves their fitness for the position.
The City Council held a special closed meeting on Monday to discuss the candidates. If an offer is made and accepted, the new city administrator is expected to be announced on April 20.
What the job entails
The city administrator is the CEO of the city, and their responsibilities include goal setting for the council, budget reviews and presentations as well as lobbying with legislators, among other things. The administrator, who is hired by the city council and serves at their pleasure, works with the mayor, the council and the staff to accomplish plans and initiatives.
Meeting the candidates
I talked briefly with each of the candidates at the event to learn a bit about their background and interest in the job. They were experienced administrators, who were genuinely intrigued by the opportunities the Cedar Falls position offers.
My interviews are below in alphabetical order.
Josh Boldt
Josh Boldt is the city manager at Maquoketa, a town of slightly over 6,000 residents. He said he has been there for slightly over four years. Prior to that, he was a police officer for close to a decade.
Boldt holds a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University, where he enrolled in the program while working as a police officer.
“It was just a good opportunity for me to stay because it’s paid off some dividends later in life,” he said of his education. “I have no career regrets at all. I really enjoy where I have been and what I am doing.”
Boldt has family in Cedar Falls and said if he were to be offered the position, his parents, too, would consider relocating here.
He said the position here is a big growth opportunity and mentioned his organizational and finance skills as assets.
If picked for the job, he would first observe and learn.
“You don’t come into the position and tell people they’ve been doing their job wrong the last 10 years, and that’s not what I do,” he said. “But I would be learning, observing and within the first six months, I will have developed a pretty strong plan of what the City Council wants to do.”
He said he used to work for former DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery, whose “20/20 Vision for the Future,” has informed Boldt’s leadership and community engagement philosophy.
“I would love to produce a document like that, but it has to have a lot of consistencies with what’s in place, and continue from there,” he said.
Boldt said he is passionate about “streets and parks and community development,” and has strong finance skills.
“I’ve been told, from a lot of folks, actually, the bigger you go, the pressures are probably higher, but you have talented staff,” he said.
Craig Clark
Craig Clark is the city administrator of Austin, Minnesota, a town of approximately 26,930 residents. He is also the Austin Port Authority executive director and tasked with serving as the economic development leader for the city.
He has been in that position for over 11 years. Prior to that, he held similar roles in Worthington, Minnesota, and Clayton, Wisconsin. He has also worked at the legislature in Minnesota, as well as in Washington, D.C. for a couple of congressmen, he told me.
Clark said having held jobs at the local, state and federal levels has allowed him to learn a lot, knowledge that would be meaningful in Cedar Falls if he were offered the post.
He holds a master’s in public administration from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota and his undergraduate degree is from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, where he double majored in political science and history.
Clark said what he finds attractive about the challenge here is “the growth of the community and the focus on planning. That a university town, that’s certainly an attraction, along with the other amenities and the vibrancy that that brings to a community. A place where you know your neighbors and it’s safe, small-town quality of life. ”
He said his first priority, if offered the position, would be to “do a lot of listening.”
“Get out and familiarize myself with the departments, what’s going on, what’s the challenges, work with the council to visit with stakeholders in the community, have them show me who I need to talk to,” he said.
Clark said he had not been to town prior to this visit, but what he saw as part of this experience was “impressive.”
“There’s a lot to be proud of here,” he said. “The growth, every time we kind of turned around, there was something else, like, well, that’s cool, and, oh, that’s nice. Well, that’s impressive.”
Clark said he was most impressed by the “new industrial development areas.”
“I know that that’s something that’s needed in the community to kind of balance out the allocation for industrial commercial versus residential,” he said. “The city’s kind of heavy on the residential side, and that helps diversify the tax base for the community to be able to have those higher valued industrial properties, helping row the boat.”
Jordan Cook
Jordan Cook, the city administrator in Nevada, Iowa, a town with approximately 6,925 residents, according to the 2020 Census, had been in his current post since 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a master of science degree in urban studies, with concentration in public administration, from the same institution.
He said he had watched some City Council and P & Z meetings to learn about local issues.
“You always want to grow, make sure your infrastructure is up to date,” he said, referring to some of the projects in town and drawing a parallel between some projects in Nevada.
He said, if picked for the post, his first priority would be to listen.
“The first priority for me is understanding the projects, getting to know the staff,” he told me. “Really understanding our budget, the capital improvements plan. Really, just kind of getting to know the city and the residents as well and continue to work and build relationships with existing businesses and any businesses that want to come to Cedar Falls and build in Cedar Falls.”
He added that three years ago, he had come to town on a visit and admired the downtown and the Black Hawk Hotel.
“I love that hotel. It’s a beautiful staple here in the community,” he said.
Steven Lindner
Steven Lindner is the city administrator of Dewitt, Iowa, a town of 5,514 residents. He has served that community for the past 24 years, he told me.
Lindner earned a master’s degree in public administration from Minnesota State University. His undergraduate degree is from UNI, in history education.
Lindner said he has had the opportunity to watch Cedar Falls grow over the years since his own college years and now that his son, a history major, is a student here, he and his family have good reasons to come here more often.
“Cedar Falls is a special place,” he said. “We were just so impressed with the community’s growth and the downtown, how it looks, and then just generally, the housing, people keep their properties up. It is just a beautiful place. We know it has a lot of great amenities. And the university being here, with the arts and all that.”
Lindner said his first priority would be meeting everyone.
“It’s just going to be meeting the staff and getting to know the council and mayor, just the people type stuff,” he said. “Then working on getting up to date on the strategic plans, and those types of things, so we see where everyone wants to go.”
Lindner said he had watched some council meetings to get a feel for the issues and the culture of the city.
“Every community has challenges, ” he said. “And they have some up in front of them, but I’ve been impressed with the communication at the council meetings, the professionalism of the staff and the council. So I think they’re on a very good path, and have been, so I just want to help them continue to make Cedar Falls one of the best places to live in Iowa.”
Philip Rath
Philip Rath, the city administrator in Ottumwa, has worked in this role in several communities for over 20 years, the last six in Ottumwa, a city with over 25,352 residents.
Rath said Ottumwa had been designated as a 2026 Iowa Thriving Community by the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and bachelor’s in economics from Ripon College, a private liberal arts institution in Wisconsin.
If offered the position, he said, his first step would be to “connect.”
“My first priority would just be to connect with everybody, the council, mayor, staff, reach out to the community and any community partners, such as UNI, the school district, major employers. kind of get a sense for the community,” he said.
“Looking through the different planning documents, and just kind of get a real sense of the priorities that the council has set going forward for this next year or the next two years. And then just, kind of hit the ground running.”
He said he had previously come to Cedar Falls as part of a professional visit to see the waterfront development in town and the downtown area, especially around Second Street, with the apartment and living spaces there and the plaza area.
Rath’s son is a freshman at UNI, preparing for a career in math education. He said that while visiting with their son, they tried George’s Local and The Brown Bottle and enjoyed the atmosphere and the food.
He said the opportunity to apply for the job comes at a good time for his career,
“Our kids are moving out, but I’d like to have them want to come back home and visit, have things to do when they’re visiting. It’s just a great opportunity,” he said.