Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch was named Iowa City/County Management Association Manager of the Year at the Iowa League of Cities’ Annual Conference and Exhibit in Cedar Rapids Thursday, Sept. 21.
Nosbisch was recommended for the award by mayor Tom Wieseler.
Nosbisch thanked his wife, Lisa, and his family for their support.
“The council and mayor of Mount Vernon really do a lot to make my job easy, too,” Nosbisch said.
He also commended his staff for their commitment to the city and the goals they are accomplishing to make management easy, and to his colleagues at the IaCMA and ICMA for their expertise and guidance on issues the city encounters.
“Without other managers like you to draw from your expertise, I’d probably have more challenges in this job every day,” Nosbisch said.
In his nomination, Wieseler noted a few different areas that Nosbisch has excelled in as a city administrator – enacting policies that enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the city, leadership and management skills, personal and professional development, professionalism and integrity, employee development, community and civic service, public stewardship and self management.
Wieseler said one of the ways Nosbisch has helped the city be more efficient has been by allowing department heads more authority to manage their departments with accountability added, as well as how and managing how agendas are set for the council meetings.
“Chris is highly organized in his management practices,” Wieseler wrote. “I especially appreciate his management style with consistent method of communicating the agenda and meeting packet. His regular use of a Friday update is very timely and is a way to keep all informed on a regular basis. He is also quick to reply to email questions from the mayor and council and none are too insignificant to not get a response of some type.”
His knowledge on financial management of the city has also been beneficial, helping the city to get a bond rating of AA-.
He was also able to help take the community center project from funding to actual construction, with the building of the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center.
“This is a big asset to our community that garnered us national and state recognition, including the Star City award at the Coralville convention in 2021,” Wieseler said. “He got us out of neutral on this project and charging forward to completion.”
Wieseler said Nosbisch has also helped with employee development, with the creation of the assistant city manager and city planner positions for the city that assist him on multiple projects and work with the city.
“These positions have become integral to the operation of our citizen committees in the preparation of agenda items coming to the full City Council,” Wieseler said.
Nosbisch works well with other important entities in Mount Vernon, including the Mount Vernon School system and Cornell College, to collaborate on the projects beneficial to all entities.
Wieseler also noted Nosbisch’s leadership following the aftermath of the derecho in 2020.
“He marshalled all City services quickly, and without power and electronic communication for days, he developed a plan for clean-up that had the bulk of our community looking normal within weeks,” Wieseler said. “This included much manual labor on his part.”
Projects he is leading the city on in the works include a long-range trail project with Linn County and Cedar Rapids, switching from manual read to central read water meters, day care issues in the city of Mount Vernon and financial management of the city.
“Chris has guided us through the purchase of a long-closed church with a plan to convert it into our police department,” Wieseler said. “In this calendar year alone, we have put out to bid our audit services, audit prep, website redesign, city pool study and way finding study. Service provider changes, for financial reasons, were made in several cases and in others, consultants are being held accountable for getting community wide input and compiling the results. “
Nosbisch has also served as an executive board member of IaCMA.
“There he works not only for the City of Mount Vernon, but for all Iowa communities to ensure they are better because of city managers,” Wieseler said. “With thoughtful execution of IaCMA’s strategic plan, Chris and his cohorts are well-positioned for continued success. Chris understands the value of giving back while he acts as a mentor through the League’s Grapevine where peers can ask questions and share valuable information to continue expanding his and others’ knowledge in the profession and sharing industry best practices.”
Wieseler and other members of city staff knew the award was being given to Chris this year more than a week before, but part of the awards reveal includes members of the city staff, family and other supporters arrive before the award is announced.
Mount Vernon City administrator named Manager of the Year
September 28, 2023
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.