Naperville looking to fill two high-profile positions

Naperville plans to hire two high-ranking leaders by the end of the year.

Both a new fire chief and new city manager are on the horizon, officials said Thursday.

The city has been without a permanent city manager for nearly a year. Peter Burchard, who held the post for a decade, resigned in December 2007 to take a job in the private sector.

Robert Marshall, formerly the assistant city manager, has been serving as city manager pro tem.

Just fewer than 30 hopefuls have applied to fill Burchard's shoes. Working with a search firm, the city has narrowed the field to eight candidates who will be interviewed this month.

The city council is expected to hire a new city manager before the end of the year.

Asked about the length of the process, Mayor George Pradel said other things like the city's budget shortfall have taken priority in recent months. But he also said the time was needed to work with the search firm and find the right candidates.

The city is "looking for the top cream of the crop," he said.

"One that can hit the ground running with a city this size, one that will be able to understand the challenges we're going through, one that will ... keep us together as the former city manager did and now our acting city manager is," Pradel said. "One that shows leadership and vision and really reaches out into the neighborhoods, into the city to be seen, be heard and be the leader the city manager needs to be."

Meanwhile as city manager pro tem, one of Marshall's tasks has been to hire a new fire chief to replace John Wu, who resigned abruptly in April. Wu had spent more than five years as Naperville's fire chief and neither he nor Marshall has publicly discussed the reasons for his departure.

Mike Zywanski, former assistant chief, has been serving as acting chief.

The city received about 55 applications for the job and is now down to three candidates.

Marshall said he is looking for a chief who will "bring to the table strong interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate a vision for the fire department and to build strong relationships internally and externally with other department heads as well as community leaders and our city council."

He expects to announce his choice in the next two weeks.