Muscatine

 The original question was,what does everyone think about A J leaving to take a job in Iowa City. I said it would not effect me, because city adim. may come and they will go.He said he is "courted" all the time.I would think some city employees would be concered because of their salaries and input for a city this size,for example what police and firefighter/paramedics earn.I know this is going to open a whole new can of worms,but i'm with overthehill on this one, don't let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out.I'm sure his severance package would be way better than most of us could dream of.

Well, if A.J. leaves the city, it will be a wonderful thing. The problem is, he's been looking for  long time and I don't think he's qualified to do Iowa City. He's barely qualified to do muscatine.

Can the city do without a city administrator? The answer is probably no but the good part, if we get a good one in exchange, the city will be better off and maybe the other officials that head our departments will be forced to leave or do their job as it should be done.

What ever his severence package might be, it's worth it for good new blood that might lead the city to be better place to be. A.J.'s time was up a long time ago but as usual, no one did anything about it.

Maybe there's still hope for our city. Now all we have to do is find a city that will take out council in trade for one that knows what they are doing.  

 The three remaining Iowa City candidates....

-- Paul Beecher, who said he is in his 50s. He has 24 years experience as a city manager, most recently in Kingman, Ariz., from 2005 to 2007. "I've reached a point in my career where I feel very comfortable with myself and what I can do with an organization, a community," he said.

-- A.J. Johnson, 51, a city manager since 1985, and in Muscatine since 1989. "I thought it would be a wonderful professional challenge," he said of the Iowa City job.

-- Michael Lombardo, 43. He has done consulting work since 2006. Before that, he spent four years as the administrator of Allegan County, Mich. "Finding cities like Iowa City is not as easy as one would hope for," he said.

 Looks like there must be a trend in city managers moving around mid-career.