East Ridge council interviews four finalists for city manager, delays selection to next meeting

The East Ridge City Council on March 5 interviewed four finalists for the city manager post and agreed to continue selection and compensation discussions at a future meeting.

Glenn Adams, who said he managed a $128,500,000 budget while with the City of Homewood, described a “menu-driven” workshop approach to budgeting that prioritizes services and gives council members clear levers to adjust priorities. “The largest budget I've managed is a 128,500,000.0,” Adams said, adding that he emphasizes regular briefings and trust-building with elected officials and department directors.

Brian Corl said Riverside’s current budget is about $56.8 million and emphasized hands-on collaboration with directors and weekly updates to the council. “Budgeting is balancing almost infinite needs and wants with finite resources,” Corl said, saying public safety and capital projects typically top priorities.

James Tyson “Ty” Ross described utility budgets in excess of $90 million and said a high-priority first-year focus would be listening and building relationships across elected officials, staff and community stakeholders. Ross also disclosed an off-duty 2023 bicycle crash after he drank excessively, saying he resigned from a prior position and later worked in legal aid. “I had too much to drink… I crashed,” Ross said in the interview.

Rick Rudamekken described more than two decades in public service and said he has handled budgets up to about $130 million. He recounted responding to a prior agency fiscal crisis that involved a roughly $13 million misappropriation, describing steps he and his team took to restore fiscal stability and to protect core services.

Across all candidates, council members questioned finalists on municipal budgeting practices, approaches to economic development and tourism-district renewal, stormwater and capital planning, staff supervision and how they would respond if an individual council member sought work outside an adopted council direction. Candidates repeatedly said clear communication, an open-door approach and regular director briefings were central to their management style.

No final appointment or vote occurred at the session. The council thanked staff for organizing the interviews and indicated members will reconvene at a future meeting to discuss finalists, select a preferred candidate and develop a compensation package. The chair said the council expects to consider next steps at its upcoming meeting; no formal motion or vote on a hire was recorded during the March 5 session.