Powers Accepts Ann Arbor City Admin Job

Late Friday, in an email sent to all city employees, interim Ann Arbor city administrator Tom Crawford announced that an employment agreement had been reached with Steve Powers to become the city’s new city administrator effective Sept. 15, 2011. The terms of the agreement, which have not yet been released, will need to be approved at the city council’s Thurs. Aug. 4 meeting.

The Ann Arbor city council chose unanimously to offer Steve Powers the job of city administrator at its July 18, 2011 meeting. The decision for Powers over another finalist, Ellie Oppenheim, came after two rounds of interviews on July 12-13, including a televised session on the morning of July 13. [Previous Chronicle coverage: "Search Concluding for Ann Arbor City Admin"]

The city’s chief financial officer, Tom Crawford, has been serving as interim city administrator since April 28 – he was appointed to that position at the city council’s April 19, 2011 meeting. He will continue to serve in that capacity until Powers begins work on Sept 15, making his tenure in that position four and a half months, or 140 days. Previous city administrator Roger Fraser announced his resignation at a Feb. 28 city council working session. Fraser took a job with the state of Michigan as a deputy treasurer.