The Newport City Council has been working with Jenson Strategies to help them to select a new city manager as current city manager Spencer Neble announced he is retiring in July. Â The council narrowed down the candidates to four. Throughout the last week the four candidates had a 90-minute interview, attended meet and greets with the public and with staff and then each candidate met with an interview panel consisting of local citizens, department heads and staff and tours of the city.
After a lengthy discussion the council held a brief meeting and voted unanimously to offer Nina Vetter the position of City Manager for Newport, pending contract negotiations. Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan said they were impressed with all the candidates. He pointed out that Vetter received high points with the department heads, her energy and experience in project completion. Nina Vetter recently served as the City Manager for the City of Gresham. The council also thanked the team at Janson Strategies for helping to make the selection process smooth and transparent.
The Council also noted that following Ms. Vetter’s acceptance of this role she would be the first female City Manager to serve the City of Newport. She would start in the position if she accepts on July 9th. Current City Manager Spencer Nebel will be retiring as of July 8th. He had mentioned that he would be available to help with projects or questions as an independent contractor after that date.
