KINGMAN – Grady Miller has relocated to Kingman from Fountain Hills and he’ll spend his first day on the job as interim Kingman City Manager on Monday, Sept. 25. Miller assumes the leadership role at city hall following the Aug. 15 council decision to terminate the employment of former manager Ron Foggin.
Miller is secured under contract between the City and Interim Public Management, a firm that maintains a talent bank that supplies retired administrators for short term roles in local government in communities across the state. He’s expected to provide leadership at least into Jan. as the City looks to secure a firm to recruit Kingman’s next fulltime manager.
“My priority is to meet with the mayor and council this week and see what their expectations are and what they’d like to see accomplished during the time period that I’m there,” Miller said. “I’m going to meet with the department directors. They have their staff meetings every Monday morning.”
Miller said he wants to tour facilities, operations and infrastructure. He’s well aware of council expectation that the Interstate 40 Traffic interchange initiatives be advanced.
“They’re very interested in making sure that staff, the town works very closely with ADOT to see those projects through,” Miller
said.
Miller said he visited Kingman some 15 years ago and was surprised by the growth he observed during his recent job interview.
“I’ve worked as manager of smaller cities or towns but what I liked about it (Kingman) was that it really has a lot of larger city amenities that you would typically see in larger cities,” Miller said. He said the airport and industrial park and municipal utility operations are impressive and that Kingman has capitalized upon its role as a transportation corridor and the benefits of tourism promotion.
“I was very impressed with the revitalized downtown along Rt. 66 and I think the town has a lot going for it,” Miller said.
Miller’s career includes administrative leadership roles in Rhode Island, the city of Peoria north of Phoenix and the town of Fountain Hills. Miller served as Fountain Hills town manager for 8 years before retiring June 1st.
Kingman represents Miller’s first employment since retirement. He said will evaluate whether he applies for the fulltime Kingman city manager position.
“There’s a lot of factors that will have to be taken into consideration,” Miller said. “I definitely have an open mind to that as a possibility, but that’s all I would call it is just a possibility that I might apply for the job.”
Miller said his four-day work week structure will allow him to travel home some weekends to his home in Fountain Hills.
Miller contract approved
KINGMAN – Hiring interim leadership while recruiting a new city manager is an expensive proposition for Kingman. The contract that will pay Interim Public Management (IPM) for Grady Miller to serve as Acting City Manager was approved without discussion at the Sept. 19 Kingman City Council meeting.
Terms of the agreement require the city to pay IPM nearly $22,000 a month ($5,494 per week). The city will provide lodging for Miller and reimburse him for business related driving mileage.
Miller assumed Acting Manager duties at city hall on Monday, Sept. 25. He is expected to primarily work a Monday-Thursday schedule, with fluctuation when expedient or necessary through Jan. 25,2024.
The contract could renew month to month following that date or be terminated by either party with notice provisions applying.
Under the contract, IPM will be paid well more than what former manager Ron Foggin earned before he was fired by the Council on Aug. 15. The City must also pay Foggin his regular salary for ten months under a severance clause in his contract approved by the Council in June, 2022.
