Eudora officials are excited about the hire of Kevyn Gero as city manager. " />
Eudora officials are excited about the hire of Kevyn Gero as city manager.
The City Commission felt they made the best hire for city manager by choosing Kevyn Gero to take over the position Monday night.
Mayor Tim Reazin said the commission witnessed a lot of growth from Gero since she took over for former City Manager Barack Matite, which was a big reason why she was chosen for the job.
“I think her past knowledge and abilities that she gained working with a larger municipality [Lawrence] and then her time spent here underneath our former city manager, but then working with city staff kind of makes her the better candidate for our long-term vision,” Reazin said. “So, she fits, in my opinion, with that long-term vision that we have of a mindset that fixes our needs, but also grows onto our wants.”
Reazin said the commission interviewed other great candidates, but working with Gero for the last six months was a helpful guide during the hiring process.
“To know what she was capable of doing and seeing her firsthand helped me,” Reazin said. “It’s unfortunate for the other candidates that didn’t have that same opportunity for me to see what they were able to do, but I think that she gave me that peace and I was comfortable knowing that.”
Commissioner Jolene Cullen said Gero’s passion is what stood out to her during final candidate interviews.
“Her fire. Professionally, her education, her background and everything that she has done up until this point makes her a great addition to the city of Eudora,” Cullen said. “But her fire and her drive and her enthusiasm is what I see the most, and I’m really excited to see what she does.”
Commissioner Alex Curnes said moving Gero to the permanent position will help the city continue to develop and grow.
“Kevyn is invested in our community. She is committed to the projects and the direcion the city has been working toward,” Curnes said in a statement. “The relationships she has built within the community, county, regional and state levels will be incredibly important as Eudora continues to grow.”
Vice Mayor Tim Bruce said Gero’s vision for the city best matched the commission’s vision as well.
“Her belief in the community. For me, that was probably one of the bigger things,” Bruce said. “Just believing in where we’re going and where we’re headed, and being kind of aligned with what the commission’s visions are.”
Attempts to reach Commissioner Roberta Lehmann for comment were unsuccessful.
Other Eudora leaders shared the commission’s excitement to have Gero in the permanent role as city manager.
Convention and Visitors Bureau President and Barbwire Barbecue owner Jason Musick said he is happy the commission decided to hire from within.
“I think Kevyn definitely knows what is going on in Eudora right now,” Musick said. “So, I think that helps us hopefully stay ahead of the growth and hopefully not miss a beat.”
Now that Gero is the city manager, Musick said one area he wants the CVB and the city to focus on is the guest transient tax in order to help generate more tax revenue for the community.
“There’s a lot of Airbnbs here in Eudora and, you know, there’s a bed and breakfast,” Musick said. “So those are opportunities that we can generate extra tax revenue to help support the CVB and help draw more tourism to our community that hopefully will turn around more sales tax dollars generated for the community.”
Musick said Gero’s experience as the city liaison for the Chamber of Commerce will help her maintain relationships with small business owners and will help them continue to grow.
“It kind of takes away that honeymoon period, right? She kind of knows everybody already,” Musick said. “I’m hoping that with our growth and stuff we’re still really pivoting Eudora and small businesses, and how we can help support small businesses in the future. I think her being in the community for a while and being a part of it, I’m hoping that helps.”
Superintendent Stu Moeckel said he is glad the relationship between the school district and the city manager’s office will remain strong under Gero as it has been built over the last two and half years, dating back to Gero’s time as assistant city manager.
“Since Barack’s leaving, and even before Barack left, I tried to meet with the city manager and the assistant city manager at least once a month to discuss kind of updates about what was going on in school as well as what was going on in the community just to make sure we’re on the same page,” Moeckel said. “It’s pretty exciting that that relationship gets to continue and that sense of teamwork won’t take a pause.”
Moeckel shared similar thoughts on Gero’s passion toward her projects.
“I’ve been very happy with her efforts as far as economic development and striving to get more houses, which we know our community sorely needs,” Moeckel said.
With the expected growth from the arrival of Panasonic and other projects, Weld Properties owner GW Weld said he thinks it will be important for Gero and the city to create an environment that is open for development.
“There’s a lot of things that have to happen policy wise to invite people to want to do projects in a town,” Weld said.
This includes refreshing the city’s comprehensive plan “and just in general being open and providing a space where developers feel like there’s an opportunity is the biggest thing that she can do to lead,” he said.
Library Director Carol Wohlford and Library Board President Kenny Massey said in a joint statement that they hope to include the city in future discussions about their pursuits of a new library.
“Kevyn has been involved in discussions regarding the library in the past and will enable a streamlined path of communication,” the statement said.
Weld said he is excited to see what Gero does now that she is the city manager.
“She’s not just keeping the seat warm for somebody else,” Weld said. “So it’ll be fun to see what her full vision is for the city and how she leads. I’m excited to see what path it takes us.”
Coming soon: We sat down for a one-on-one interview with Gero to hear more about her vision for the city. Watch for that story this week.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]