Following the first round of interviews by City Council members last week, two candidates, Vincent Jones and Mark Reeter, were selected to move forward in the search for Newark's next city manager. Both candidates will participate in a community meet and greet next Tuesday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chamber. 

Vincent Jones (pictured left), has served as Deputy City Manager for Portsmouth, VA for the past two years.Prior to joining Portsmouth, he served the residents and City Council of Richmond, VA, as Deputy Council Chief of Staff for nearly four years.   Jones has 19 years of public-sector state and municipal government experience that includes working with or managing operations such as public works, streets and sanitation, recreation and arts, code enforcement, community services, economic development, finance, human resources, police, information technology, and risk management. In addition to managing daily operations of municipal government, his professional accomplishments include strategic planning, project management, budget analysis and development, creation of performance measures, development of a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan, and legislative research and policy analysis. In 2016, Jones was selected for participation in the University of Virginia's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, Political Leaders Program. He earned his Bachelor's degree from The College of William and Mary and a Master of Public Administration degree from The Florida State University. Mark Reeter (pictured right) is a local government professional with over 30 years of experience. He began his career in 1986 after graduating from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Master in Public Administration. From 1986 through 1990 Reeter served on the staffs of regional councils of governments in Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina supporting numerous local governments in their community and economic development efforts. In 1990, he was appointed Town Manager of Gate City, VA, serving in that capacity until 1993 when he accepted the position of Assistant County Administrator and Director of Economic Development for Washington County, VA. In June of 1995, Reeter was appointed County Administrator of Washington County. He went on to serve that community for more than 17 years, the longest-serving administrator in the county's history. Reeter also served as County Administrator in Bedford County, Virginia beginning March, 2013 for two years, and briefly served as County Administrator in King William County in eastern Virginia from March, 2017 through January of this year.  

 Reeter's career emphasizes community and economic development as well as fostering and contributing to cooperative efforts to accomplish major public projects. During his administration in Washington County, the county directly participated in the creation or retention of nearly 5,000 local jobs resulting in new and retained private investments totaling $400 million. Reeter has served on the board of directors of numerous regional entities and various committees of the Virginia Association of Counties. He has also been involved with the Virginia Local Government Manager's Association and contributed technical assistance to other local government managers through the Virginia Institute of Government. 

Below is the remaining recruitment schedule, with public engagement opportunities noted in bold:  

• July 24 at 2 p.m. - Case study presentation and structured interview with Department Heads; the case study presentation will be recorded and posted on the website for public viewing.
• July 24 at 6:30 p.m. - Community Meet and Greet for City Manager finalists in Council Chambers; Finalists will be asked scripted question by the consultant/designee. Finalists will be brought out one at a time to answer the questions. At the end of the session, finalists will remain so the public can ask individual questions of the candidates.
• July 25 - Finalist individual tours of the community
• July 25 at 6 p.m. - City Council special meeting for finalist City Manager interviews.
• July 26 at 6 p.m. - City Council special meeting for Council deliberations and decision; Council may vote on items related to the City Manager search after the conclusion of the executive session.

More information on the City Manager search is available online. Residents with questions can email them to AskNewark@newark.de.us.