NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR STARTS JOB

JACKSON, Mo. -- Today, Jim Roach will spend his first day as Jackson's city administrator talking.

He will talk with Police Chief Marvin Sides and Fire Chief Brad Golden and will meeting with the departments he didn't work closely with in his previous capacity as the city's public works director. Besides police and fire, those departments include parks, cemetery and library.

"I'm going to go out and get more familiar with them so I have a better understanding of the day-to-day operations," he said. "I haven't stuck my nose in that area because it wasn't my business."

Roach, who has been the city's public works director since 1997, also plans to review some of the resumes that have come in for his old job and conduct some interviews. Roach plans to interview in-house candidates and also is running ads in widely circulated publications read by engineers.

Monday he will talk over lunch with Ken Parrett, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, and Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girar-deau Area Industrial Recruitment Association. They will discuss strategies for marketing the city's industrial property on the north side of town and the property on the south side owned by the Jackson Industrial Development Corporation, which the Jackson Chamber of Commerce operates.

"We want to make sure we aren't competing with each other," Roach said.

Both the Chamber and the city are nonprofit entities, Roach noted. "At the same time, we don't want to be stepping on each other's toes."

The city currently is putting together a set of covenants for its property. Roach said it's a good time to talk to the JIDC to talk about such issues as the size of lots each is developing. "Maybe we'll do something different," he said.

He is excited about taking on the job. "I'm looking forward to the possibility of making some changes," he said. "Nothing major, but things that fit me a little better."

Roach spent part of the weekend moving into the office vacated by Steve Wilson, who left his job as Jackson's public administrator to return to the Department of Conservation.

The agenda tonight for Roach's first Board of Aldermen meeting as public administrator would appear to offer a smooth initial ride. The board will examine the city's semi-annual financial statement, set public hearings to consider tax rates and consider some ordinances related to the city's participation in the Community Development Block Grant Program.

Also on the agenda is an ordinance authorizing an employment contract with the new city administrator.