Cedar Rapids is getting closer to hiring one person to manage all the flood-related issues in the city as interviews for the six finalists begin today. Cedar Rapids has a city manager, but human resources director Connie Huber says the new position is needed.
Huber says, "Creating this position will allow one set of hands to focus on the flood recovery and reinvestment activities and then the city manager can focus on the complex job of running a city with 120,000 people."
The finalists for the job include two internal candidates as well as one each from the University of Iowa, the small town of Palo, and Missouri and New Jersey.
Huber says it’s a very qualified field of applicants. Huber will not say how much money the flood recovery director could make however the salary will be paid by a combination of city dollars and donations from private businesses. The interviews of the finalists will continue Tuesday. The person hired for the job is expected to start in late July or early August.