Geneva city administrator, police chief retiring

Geneva is losing its city administrator and its police chief to retirement, the city spokesman announced late Friday afternoon.

And the mayor will ask the city council Monday to approve their replacements.

Police Chief Steve Mexin, 51, has worked for Geneva since 1989. He became chief in 2008 when Bill Kidwell retired.

Mexin's last day is May 6.

Administrator Mary McKittrick, who is in her 60s, started working for the city in 1999 as assistant city administrator and was promoted to administrator in 2008, when Phil Page retired.

McKittrick's last day is June 10.

Mayor Kevin Burns said he intends to nominate Cmdr. Eric Passarelli as police chief, and Stephanie Dawkins, assistant city administrator, to administrator.

"The promotions reflect the culture we have developed within the city, to hire the best-developed professionals and train them accordingly" to take over "seamlessly," Burns said, when asked why the city didn't search outside the staff. Burns said he consulted with aldermen and expects unanimous votes on the appointments.

"Serving the City of Geneva has been an honor and a privilege," McKittrick said in a prepared statement. "My passion and calling in life was to serve in local government, and I have been fortunate to have done that for more than 30 years, first as an elected official and then as a chief administrative officer overseeing a multimillion-dollar municipal corporation. I am proud to have served our community alongside our Geneva city staff, who reflect professionalism, ethics, accountability and collaboration in their daily work. I will miss them and the challenges that running a city brings."

McKittrick was an elected official in 1985 in Oswego, then became its first administrator in 1991. In 1999, she became Geneva's assistant city administrator/director of administrative service, overseeing the finance, human resources and information technologies departments.

Dawkins, who also serves as director of administrative services, began working for Geneva in 2008.

"From day one, that (financial strain from the 2008 recession) has been a huge challenge to maintain the current level of services our community has come to expect with budget cuts each year," Mexin said in a prepared statement. "Considering the financial obstacles that we have had to endure, Geneva has maintained an excellent level of safety."