MORGANTOWN — Barring the unexpected, Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake is moving on.
Brake confirmed Tuesday that he’s received a conditional offer of employment after the Royal Oak, Mich. City Commission voted unanimously on Monday to select him as its next city manager.
Brake said he was “honored and humbled” by the offer, but noted his enthusiasm is muted by the global health crisis that prompted Morgantown officials to close nonessential city facilities and cancel meetings and events through April 6.
“There’s really never an ideal time to leave. There’s so much that we have going on. I’m hoping we can really get past the majority of this coronavirus before I step out the door,” Brake said, estimating it would likely be late April when he leaves Morgantown City Hall for the final time.
Brake went into Monday evening’s meeting as one of three finalists for the Royal Oak position out of 114 candidates.
Royal Oak is a suburb of Detroit with a population of about 59,000, a general fund budget of about $70 million and more than 300 full-time employees.
“I think Paul, in his second interview, really stood out with his explanation of what Morgantown is, and what a dynamic and exciting place it is,” Royal Oak Mayor Michael Fournier told The Dominion Post. “Royal Oak is a city that is similar in size to Morgantown’s daytime population and also in the complexities of having to work with a number of different groups … Couple that with the experience he’s had in Michigan, even in the private sector, and he just seemed to be the best fit for where we’re heading.”
Brake came to Morgantown from Laingsburg, Mich. He took over city administration on Feb. 8, 2017. Prior to that, much of his work history was established in Michigan and he regularly traveled back to the state.
He previously told The Dominion Post his interest in the Royal Oak job is tied to family and his past experience with that community — in which he previously worked in the private sector.
“I guess they see in him what we saw in him,” Morgantown Mayor Bill Kawecki said. “We want our employees to be happy at what they do and where they are. There were circumstances there that are better for Paul and his personal life, and I can appreciate that. I really wish him the best.”
Kawecki was one of two current council members who voted to hire Brake — 4th Ward Councilor Jenny Selin is the other.
“I, for one, am very sad to see him go. I think he did a wonderful job while he’s been here,” Selin said, calling Brake “One of our better city managers.”
“I’m just pleased in the direction that the city is going right now. We have a council that is active and kind of has a good pulse on the community,” she said.
Brake points to recent concurrence from the Federal Aviation Administration on the city’s long-coveted runway extension project and the securing of more than $4 million for riverfront improvements from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust as being among his top accomplishments in Morgantown.
Asked if he has any regrets, he mentioned the city’s ambitious and contentious — and ultimately stalled — annexation efforts, but notes “I knew that was going to be a tough challenge from the outset. I don’t know about handling it differently. I think we would have ended up at the same conclusion, and it’s really disappointing. Fundamentally, it’s a problem for the state. The state will not grow. If you don’t have strong cities, you don’t have a strong economy. Nobody can prove otherwise.”
Brake noted he’s been in the business 32 years and considers Morgantown’s city staff “probably the best I’ve ever worked with.”
Ultimately, he said, he’ll leave Morgantown without regrets.
“Are there things I would tweak differently, sure, but I rest easy knowing that I’ve done my very best in the things that I’ve done and there are no regrets whatsoever,” he said. “I hope other people would concur that I’m leaving this place better than the condition I found it.”
According to Kawecki, Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli would be the obvious choice to step into the top role on an interim basis while a search is held — a process that could be substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been through this before and we know the route,” Kawecki said. “We know how to go out and get good people, so we’ll go out and get a good person.”
