Minooka hires first manager - The Herald News - Joliet (IL)

MINOOKA -- Jim Grabowski was recently selected out of a field of more than 70 candidates as Minooka"s first full-time village administrator.Grabowski, 33, will assume his new duties July 8. His commitment as Wheeling"s acting city manager ends June 28.

He served for four years as the assistant administrator but stepped up to the loftier title and has shouldered those responsibilities since February after the village manager moved on.

Grabowski never applied for the job to oversee Wheeling, a bustling municipality northwest of Chicago with a population of 35,000.

But he is grateful for the hands-on education the Wheeling position afforded him.

"But Wheeling is pretty much land-locked.

There"s not too much planning and development to do here," he said.

Grabowski is itching to dig into the mix of residential, commercial and industrial development begging to grow in Minooka.

The "people skills" he has honed while managing a 225-person work force in Wheeling, Grabowski says, will continue to serve him and the 25-member Minooka department.

Grabowski holds a bachelor"s degree in urban planning, a master"s in public administration, two years of experience as an administrative assistant for North Chicago and more than two years as a property maintenance inspector.

"I"ve learned a lot through every experience that, I believe, helped me to do a better job at the next job," he said.

"I"m sure I will learn even more things at my new job in Minooka."

He vows to follow the lead of the village board members, who, as residents, he said, best understand the vision that their community has for its future.

"They are the voice of the people.

They will tell me what they want Minooka to be.

I will help them achieve that."

For three years, Craig Hullinger has been juggling the part-time position of administrator in both Minooka and Olympia Fields.

He slips in planning consultant jobs where he can.

He is not interested in the 40-hour "plus" job.

He would like to stay on as the director of planning and development.

Mayor Dick Ellis said, "I would like very much for him to stay on in that capacity.

But it"s not up to me.

It is up to the board.

I have asked them what they want to do.

And I have not heard from them yet."

Ellis said that Hullinger"s co-workers are happy with the job he has done for them.

They want him to continue along that path with a new title.

"I do not have a sense of what they are thinking about this yet," he added.

"It is all about the bottom line."

That bottom line is funding a new position at a time when the board just hired an administrator at a $75,000 salary -- nearly double that of Hullinger"s. As part-time manager, Hullinger is making $39,710. As the part-time head of planning and development, he request a similar salary.

Minooka board members and staff have been especially vigilant to the bottom line in recent months.

Committees and staff have been trying to find ways to cut back on expenses until the economy improves and funnels more state, federal and local funds their way.

Ellis said he does not know if Minooka can come up with the money to keep Hullinger"s expertise in town.

"The finance committee will make a recommendation soon, I expect," Ellis said.

"I really would hate to lose him."