The Platte City Board of Aldermen (BOA) deliberated for about 45 minutes last Tuesday night, July 16, before coming to a consensus to make Thomas Cole the next city administrator.
The board went behind closed doors to talk about the contract that was offered to Cole. The board approved the contract 5-0 with Alderman Vicki Atkins absent from the meeting and Alderman Dan Laxson attending the meeting via video.
Cole will take over the position on Aug. 1, relieving current City Administrator D.J. Gehrt so he can go back into retirement. Gehrt has been serving as interim city administrator while the city searched for a long-term solution. Gehrt has already said he will stay on a few extra weeks to help Cole with the transition.
Tom Cole
Mayor Steve Hoeger told The Citizen the city is thankful for Gehrt and his willingness to come back after he had retired once already.
“We couldn’t thank D.J. enough for returning to the city from retirement and getting us back to where we are today and getting us back on track,” Hoeger said. “We’re really excited to have Tom come on board and help lead the city into the future.”
Cole told The Citizen that he has spent most of his career in city government and has spent most of his life going back and forth between Kansas City, where he’s lived, and where he grew up in St. Joseph.
“Platte City has always been an important place for our family,” Cole said. “I’m very familiar with Platte City and it’s just a wonderful town.”
Cole said the allure of Platte City was in its potential and he specifically talked about the east side of Interstate 29 and its development.
“Really the fun part of city administration is being able to maintain and preserve all the things that everybody loves but also looking for opportunities for new things,” Cole said. “Right now we’ve got that opportunity on the other side of the highway and it’s a really exciting time to be here.”
Cole’s most recent position was economic development director for Leavenworth County, KS. Cole said that experience will help him in his new position in Platte City.
“It’s about match making and putting those right players together and identifying those end users or those developers that offer those services and mesh with what the community really wants,” Cole said.
Cole said he would have an open-door policy for every citizen of the city.
“I think the greatest way to lead is to lead with the community and the attention of the community with the understanding of what the community wants,” Cole said. “There are a lot of places that put plans together and say, ‘We’re going to go do this.’ But if you don’t have your entire community on board it’s kind of a wasted effort.”
Hoeger said another issue was also discussed and voted on during the closed session. The board authorized the city administrator to make a change to the city’s vehicle take-home policy. The vote was 4-0 with Laxson abstaining because of video issues.