With Schumacher on board, city looks to hit ground running

By Cameron Montemayor

Over the last 12 years, Mike Schumacher has helped manage a wide spectrum of day-to-day operations from some of the largest to a few of the smallest municipalities in the area.

Now, Schumacher will take on a new challenge as St. Joseph’s next city manager. Officials announced Monday night that Schumacher has been selected from a group of four finalists following a nationwide search that began in September.

“I think St Joseph has a lot to offer this community,” Schumacher said during a meet and greet last week. “It’s just an exciting time to be in St. Joe and the conversations have been just fantastic.”

Schumacher’s first day with the city will be Jan. 21, pending authorization of a contract at the next City Council meeting on Jan. 6. Schumacher will be paid a salary of $190,000.

Mayor John Josendale said with strong group of qualified finalists to choose from, it was Schumacher’s focus on communication and team-building, and his due diligence evaluating the city’s top community objectives that left officials and council members confident in his ability to excel in the role.

“Each of them interviewed him kind of in their own right and he sold himself to everybody. There was not anyone in the process that was not impressed with Mike and what he brought to the table,” Josendale said. “He talked a lot about people and he talked a lot about how you interact with people.”

With a new city manager now in the fold, officials are looking to hit the ground running on priorities for the coming year, including budget preparations and planning for high-profile community development projects.

“Whether it be for a new sports complex, whether it be we manage our budget, Mike’s already started and he’s not even here. He was willing to do that before he got here and it shows that he’s committed to where we’re going.”

Additional projects include a new animal shelter, aquatic facility, modernization of Rosecrans Memorial Airport, east side industrial development and Downtown revitalization.

Schumacher comes to St. Joseph with more than three decades of experience in local government. He spent six years as assistant city manager in Kansas City from 2012 to 2018 before serving as city administrator for the last six years in Lebanon, Missouri, a much smaller city with a population right above 15,400.

He said while the experience working across varying population sizes over the last decade-plus has been valuable, many of the core components of city government translate from location to location, highlighting the importance of developing a strong leadership team in making decisions unique to each city.

“One community may struggle to come up with funding to build one block of sidewalks while another community is struggling with funding to build 10 blocks of sidewalks. You’re still looking to build sidewalks,” he said. “When you pull a team together and you get everyone focused on the same direction, that’s when things will happen.”

A graduate of Central Missouri State University with a degree in criminal justice, Schumacher brings a strong background in public safety and views it as a top priority for St. Joseph and all municipalities. While in Lebanon, Schumacher helped implement new recruitment efforts for police officers and firefighters.

“At the end of the day, the primary and core function of local government is public safety. I have a strong background in public safety. It is the number one service that should be provided to the community by local government,” he said.

During his time as assistant city manager in Kansas City, he held the positions of assistant director for municipal correctional institutions, animal health and public safety, tow services, neighborhood preservation and dangerous buildings divisions.

With a background that also extends to neighborhood and housing services, Schumacher knows the challenges facing many cities with securing housing construction in the face of elevated labor and material costs.

During his tenure in Lebanon, Schumacher oversaw a near 3% increase in the town’s population between 2020 and 2023 and looks forward to working with local groups like the Housing Task Force to boost efforts locally.

“I look forward to being part of the team that looks at those conversations and figures out how we can become the preferred place for residential development and commercial development,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher’s hiring marks the end of an extensive search and interviews process that was initiated following the resignation of former city manager Bryan Carter in September after a three-year stint, citing a desire to return to the private sector.

Schumacher, who past experience includes areas like system implementation, labor relations and fiscal management, is a credentialed city manager with the International City/County Management Association and was awarded his Certified Public Manager from KU Management Center.

“Getting him into the community, understanding the makeup of the current city staff and how they work, how they’ll interact. He’s ready to hit the ground running and we’re ready to have him here,” Josendale said.