Cary hires new administrator
When it came to securing a new village administrator, Cary only had to go as far as Glenview.
Tuesday night, the Cary village board approved an employment contract for Christopher Clark, the assistant village manager in Glenview. Clark has worked in public service in Illinois for 14 years, with the previous 10 years spent in various capacities in Glenview.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and a master's degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University.
“I like his well-rounded experiences, strong work ethic, his passion,” Cary Village President Tom Kierna said. “He's very passionate. Very passionate about public administration, his work — he has a strong desire to be a part of Cary.”
Clark will start out making $125,000 a year, but if he survives a six-month probationary period, he'll receive $128,750 a year, said Tara Semenchuk, the assistant to the village administrator. He also will receive health and dental benefits, as well as life insurance.
“He was certainly worthy of the $125,000 and I think to get him to a fair competitive salary, something after the probationary period was in order and that's they way I structured it,” Kierna said, adding that Clark is taking a $10,000 pay cut to join Cary. “He's not being paid as much as our previous administrator was paid.”
Clark replaces Cameron Davis, who was Cary's village administrator for 10 years, but spent 15 years total working for the village.
Kierna dismissed Davis on April 19, and his annual salary was $134,000. Kierna denied there were any issues related to Davis' performance, and said the move was in the best interest of the village after four new board members were elected in April.
The administrator's workload was being distributed among Kierna and the various department heads.
After Davis left, Cary officials hired Deerfield-based Voorhees Associates for $16,400 to find his replacement, Kierna said. The firm received 69 resumes, and three finalists met with the board for interviews during a closed session last Tuesday.
Clark could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His first day in Cary is Oct. 24.