WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council has approved spending $22,500 out of the 2022 MetroRide budget to hire a recruitment firm, GovHR, to help in the search for the city’s next transit director.
Mayor Katie Rosenberg says it will be hard to replace the institutional knowledge and passion Greg Seubert has brought to the city in 40 years. “He [knows] the intricacies of how transit has changed and where we are going. So we are losing a lot.”
But Rosenberg credits Seubert with giving the city nearly six months’ notice of his intent to retire. “He wants to make sure we are left in good hands, and we want to make sure we can start the recruiting process as soon as possible.”
The Mayor does feel that the position will be a desirable one despite recent setbacks for the MetroRide system including the loss of service to neighboring communities and loss of some funding from other government sources. “I think we are in a good spot with our five-year transportation plan and we have a young leadership team. I think they are ready to hit the ground running to make sure that this next director has all the resources they need to get going
“We have nothing but opportunity [with MetroRide,]” added Rosenberg.
Rosenberg has already received messages through LinkedIn asking about the position. She’s instructing them to get in touch with GovHR if they want to be considered.
The measure passed 9-0 with two members (Lisa Rasmussen and Chad Henke) absent.
The council called a special meeting to approve the spending to give themselves a three-week jump start on the recruitment process. The measure was approved by the Finance Committee last week, and the full council was not set to meet again until Tuesday, September 13th. Rosenberg says the goal remains to have the next transit director in place before the end of the year to allow Seubert to work with that person before his last day.
