Amy Finch, Crookston’s new city administrator, just completed her first week on the job. Finch comes to Crookston from Ottawa, KS, where she worked as the City Clerk.
Finch said she had a good first week as she learns about Crookston and the new job. “Very good, very busy,” said Finch. “Been to some outside meetings, spent a lot of time meeting with staff. And then next week, scheduled to meet with each council member individually to hear what their individual priorities and hopes are for what we can accomplish going forward.”
According to Finch, the focus for the first weeks is getting caught up on what’s going on in Crookston. “I’ve spent this week trying to get caught up on ongoing issues,” said Finch. “Some of the economic development projects coming down, the mixed-use building, apartment complex. Just getting up to speed. I can’t say I’ve had a lot of time to dive into any one thing but spending this week trying to get informed, ask questions, read the documentation.”
On Wednesday, the Crookston Chamber held the Meet the Candidates Forum, and a frequent topic was the need for more communication and information from the city. Finch said that was something she talked about in her interview with the City Council in August. She’s already put some steps in place during her first week to improve the city’s communication with the community. “That’s something that I brought up even in my interview that’s important to me,” said Finch. “Good two-way, open, clear, communication. We’ve already kind of started that. We have implemented trying to get agendas prepped a little bit sooner, so we can get a preliminary list out to councilmembers for feedback. If they feel they need more information on something or an item isn’t quite ready for consideration, then staff can take that and make adjustments. On a broad level, we’ve discussed how we can get more information out to the public on our social media sites. How do we show the public what projects we’re working on? Are we repairing a street, ground-breaking, how are we getting that out? How do we utilize our staff? The website, we would like to get that up to date. We have training this afternoon to get more staff members with permissions to get their documents posted as soon as they’re approved so that access for citizens or any interested party is ready in a timely manner.”
Finch said she also toured RiverView this week and has spent time at Crookston High School, where her two sons have been enrolled. “One of the things that’s been the most fun for me is I just go to go on a tour of RiverView,” said Finch. “I was here for ribbon-cutting, and I was excited then, but I got to go in and tour the facility. That’s awesome. What a huge asset for the community. I’ve spent a little bit of time at the high school. Both of my sons are students – an 11th-grader and a 7th-grader. That’s been neat to meet the teachers. One thing I’ve learned that was exciting for our family was the college in high school options for my junior. He’s excited about that. We didn’t have anything exactly like that in Kansas, where we came from. Lots of new things to learn – new state, new schools, new options.”
Finch said she’ll be spending a lot of time in the community getting to know Crookston’s people, organizations, and businesses. “I’m excited to be here,” said Finch. “I’m going to spend time out in the community. That’s part of what my ongoing plan will be. Seeing different community partners, meeting individuals, getting acquainted with our business owners. I’m really excited about that. And I think with good teamwork, communication, and the right people in the right places we can do really, really great things here.”
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AMY FINCH
Amy Finch is currently the City Clerk for the City of Ottawa, Kansas. “I have lived in Ottawa for most of my life,” said Finch. “I have three sons. One is an adult and lives on his own. One is going into his junior year of high school, and one is going into the seventh grade.”
Finch said she was attracted to Crookston because of the university, the outdoor recreation opportunities with the Red Lake River, and Crookston Public Schools. “I am one class away from finishing my master’s in Public Administration,” said Finch. “I have served six years with the City of Ottawa. Two as the assistant city clerk and four as city clerk. And feel like it is time to start taking my career to the next level. I was pretty picky about where I put applications in. Crookston attracted me because of the university in town, the river, and outdoor recreation activities, as well as the school and those offerings.”
Finch said she’s found Crookston charming, and enjoyed many of the stops on the city tour. “I think it’s charming,” said Finch. “I love the historic downtown. Ottawa also has a Carnegie Building, that was our library. It’s now our cultural arts building. The university was fantastic. We got to see some of the parks, the new housing development with the lake behind it, and I understand there will be a new RV park. I took a tour of the school today with the principal and superintendent, and I enjoyed that at the high school.”
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