Rolling Meadows chooses its next top administrator

The Rolling Meadows City Council this month is expected to hire the first woman city manager in the suburb's history, city officials said Thursday.

Coming from Johnstown, Ohio, Sarah Phillips, 41, is the city's choice to replace the retiring Tom Melena, said Mayor Ken Nelson. The city council must vote on her, but aldermen have been in on the selection process, so her approval is very likely, Nelson said.

Phillips is presently the administrator of Johnstown, a town of about 5,000 that is a suburb of Columbus, the state capital.

She began her career in Paducah, Ky. in 1991 after getting her bachelor's and a master's degrees in public administration from Murray State University in Kentucky. She spent nine of those 12 years there as an assistant director of public works.

Rolling Meadows considered more than 40 applicants, of which five were brought in for interviews, Nelson said.

She starts Dec. 15 with a salary of $138,500, Nelson said.

Nelson and this city council had indicated a desire for someone with economic development experience and who knows how to operate with a tight budget.

Phillips has just that, Nelson said. She was appointed by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to the governor's task force for retention and expansion of manufacturing jobs in Ohio.

She also was instrumental in making a comprehensive downtown business renewal plan, he said.

"She has a strong economic background," Nelson said. "(And) Johnstown has an older downtown area similar to Rolling Meadows."

She will replace Rolling Meadows City Manager Tom Melena, who's last day will be the early part of January.

Melena came to Rolling Meadows in August 2001 from Minnesota, where he served as a city manager for a small suburb.

Melena, 60, lives in Rolling Meadows. After retirement, he plans to travel around Florida and the Caribbean with his wife, Lisa, before eventually returning to the area.