By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Following a 20-minute executive session Monday night, the Great Bend City Council voted 6-1 to appoint Logan Burns as the next city administrator. Burns will replace Brandon Anderson as Anderson’s resignation goes into effect Aug. 9.
Mayor Cody Schmidt made the recommendation to hire Burns following the executive session.
"At this time, I would like to make a recommendation to council to appoint Logan Burns as the next city administrator beginning on Monday, August 12."
Burns was hired as the city’s building inspector in 2019 after spending four years working with Joiner Construction. In November 2022, Burns was appointed to fill the open assistant city administrator position to oversee inspections, property maintenance and public lands. Burns was named interim administrator in December 2022 after Kendal Francis’ resignation, a position Burns held until the hiring of Anderson in July 2023.
The lone dissenting vote to Burns’ approval was councilmember Davis Jimenez. Last month, Jimenez voiced concerns that the hiring process for the administrator should be open to the public instead of appointing Burns without a thorough search. A community member also echoed Jimenez’s sentiment in the public comment period of Monday’s meeting.
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Anderson is resigning for personal reasons after spending 13 months in the position. Burns will take over Aug. 12.