Milford, DE - City Manager

MILFORD, DELAWARE (pop. 13,289), Milford, a coastal city resting on Delaware Bay, is seeking qualified candidates interested in serving as its next City Manager. The present City Manager is retiring after 44 years of public service, including the last 9 with the City of Milford. The 2025 City budget is approximately $64.9 million dollars, which includes a General Fund budget of approximately $16.6 million dollars. Milford is a coastal city resting on Delaware Bay. With a population of over 13,000 people, Milford is the fifth largest community in Delaware spanning 9.86 miles between Kent and Sussex Counties. Branded as River Town, Art Town, Home Town, Milford takes pride in its historic past and diversity. Settled in the 1600’s and founded in 1807, the city is divided by the Mispillion River. In its early history, Milford was known as a ship building town. Now the river serves as the city center with a scenic riverwalk with numerous parks and civic amenities along the 1.3-mile walkway. The art scene in Milford consists of a music school, dance academy, numerous art galleries, and an active community theater. With numerous community festivals and events, this close-knit community prides itself in making it everyone’s hometown. Residents enjoy the close proximity to the ocean resort towns to the south but enjoy living in a quaint city with a small town feel away from the tourist hustle and bustle.

Over the past decade, Milford has experienced consistent growth in both its population and economy. The new growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Milford and putting down their money on brand new construction. Milford’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Over 90% of homes in Milford are priced between $274,000 and $410,000. The median home value is $259,471. Since 2020, the City has seen over 20% growth in population. For the past eight years, the City has experienced, on average, 200 new dwelling units each year.

The city has a thriving economy generated by a diverse business sector. Major employers in Milford include Perdue Farms, which operates it’s organic chicken processing plant in Milford; Bayhealth, who opened a new state of the art hospital in the City in 2018; US Cold Storage, which freezes meat products produced locally; Dentsply/Sirona, which produces supplies for the dental industry; Sea Watch International, which processes clams; Milford School District; and numerous other small businesses. Milford is about 15 miles south of the Dover Air Force Base, and 20 miles north of the Atlantic coastal resort towns of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

The most prevalent occupations for people in Milford are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Milford is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Milford who work in sales jobs (11.37%), office and administrative support (9.75%), and management occupations (8.54%). A significant employment benefit of Milford is the relatively large number of people working from their home: 7.73% of the workforce.

Since 2020, the City took an aggressive approach to attract additional businesses and industry to the area, including rezoning land for industrial use. In 2022, the City purchased a 182-acre farm and is in the process of developing the land into a business/industrial park. Construction on the infrastructure will begin early in 2025.

The City of Milford is a public power community, providing electricity to city residents and businesses. The City operates two substations and maintains over 100 miles of overhead lines and over 50 miles of underground lines. The city is a member of the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC). DEMEC is a joint action agency representing eight public power municipalities in Delaware, including Milford. The Milford City Manager serves as a voting member on DEMEC’s executive board. Milford is home to the Milford Solar Farm, a 15 MW, 80 acre solar power farm owned by the Public Service Enterprise Group and is the second largest solar power farm in Delaware. DEMEC purchases the power generated from the solar farm. Presently DEMEC and the City are working to implement the first battery storage facility in the state by the end of 2025.

The Public Works department provides water, sanitary sewer collection, storm water, trash, and recycling collection to Milford. Natural gas service in Milford is provided by Chesapeake Utilities. Sanitary sewer treatment for the City is done by Kent County, with the sewage treatment plant located just north of the City.

The City Manager is the chief administrative officer and the head of the administrative branch of the municipal government, overseeing Public Works, Electric, Economic Development, Planning, Finance, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Parks and Recreation. The City Manager reports to the City Council. The City Manager functions with an appropriate degree of independence and utilizes sound professional judgment, demonstrates planning and organizational skills, and establish priorities, programs, and acceptable performance levels for their functional area. Additionally, the City of Milford has three unions: The General Teamsters Local 326 for Police Officers for the ranks of Sergeant and below, The General Teamsters Local 326 for Police Dispatchers (full-time employees only), and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 326. The City Manager is responsible for administering all collective bargaining agreements reached through the collective bargaining process.

Major duties involve appointing, and when they deem it necessary for the good of the city, suspend or remove city employees and appointive administrative officers; direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices, and agencies of the city; attends all City Council meetings and shall have the right to take part in discussion but they do not vote; oversee that all laws, provisions of the City Charter and acts of the City Council, subject to enforcement by them or by officers, subject to their direction and supervision, are faithfully executed; prepare and submit the annual budget and capital program to the City Council; submit to the City Council and make available to the public a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the city at the end of each fiscal year; prepare other reports as the City Council may require concerning the operations of city departments, offices, and agencies subject to their direction and supervision; keep the City Council fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the city and make such recommendations to the Council concerning the affairs of the city as they deem desirable; attend Council meetings and presents information and recommendations deemed necessary or as requested by members of the Council; communicate orally, and in writing, with residents, businesses, the media, the public, civic groups, and the City Council to resolve concerns and problems, and answer questions; attends and participates in Council Committees as appropriate to ensure the proper functioning and effective work of the committees; plans, coordinates, and directs the operation of subordinate City departments and programs, evaluates organizational issues and problems, and facilitates strategies to address issues and problems; provides overall organizational leadership and promotes organizational values and ensures an inclusive and discrimination-free workplace including race, color, creed, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, and all other non-job-related factors.

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in political science, business, leadership, or related field, with master’s degree in public administration, public policy or business administration preferred.
At least 10 (ten) years of previous experience in the city management profession in progressively more responsible positions, or an equivalent combination of education and experience which provides the skills and abilities necessary to perform the job.
At Least five (5) years senior management experience (preferably in municipal government); or 8 years equivalent combination of education and experience that demonstrates possession of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities. ICMA Credential Manager designation preferred or attained within 1 year of date of hire.
Possession and retention of a valid motor vehicle operator’s license issued by the State of Delaware is required.
Experience administering a public power community is highly preferred.

Qualified candidates will be expected to have:

Possess a collaborative leadership style with expertise and desire to pursue modern management concepts, principles, strategies, practices, and techniques. A visionary leader who will foster creativity; an individual who is confident in their skills and willing to delegate to staff.
Be an approachable individual and not one who micro-manages staff. Be a decisive decision maker.
Possess successful skills with fiscal management, long-range financial planning, and integrated budget management and administration.
Must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills through a collaborative leadership style with the Department Directors, which in turn builds trust within the organization.
Offer creative solutions when problem solving. Be open to changing the approach to improve performance and efficiency by assessing the roles and responsibilities of City staff.
Have experience in intergovernmental relations, maintaining relationships and working with appropriate local, county, state, and federal jurisdictions and agencies in a constructive and cooperative manner; be able to effectively represent the City’s interests to these groups and be an advocate for the City when appropriate.
Have a successful record of working with community institutions, business leaders, and citizens’ groups in a cooperative and friendly manner, genuinely open to the input and suggestions of all. Be politically astute in dealings with the City Council and other political entities the City partners with.
Have the maturity, self-confidence, and strength of professional convictions to provide administrative insights, counsel and recommendations to the City Mayor, City Council and staff; be able to firmly and diplomatically present professional views and carry out administrative decisions in a timely, professional, and impartial manner.
Possess the ability to articulate their opinion on issues in the face of opposition using fact-based data.
Recognize the critical role commercial development plays for the City and will work with others to attract new businesses to Milford.
Possess the energy and vision to build effective relationships with residents and business owners.
Possess the ability to work collaboratively and empower staff by valuing their work and solutions for improvement.
Be enthusiastic about joining the City of Milford and serve as a role model to City staff. Be civic minded and be a participant at City community events.
Possess a thorough understanding of how the technical aspects of growth within both commercial and residential development impact infrastructure improvements and the delivery of city services.
Balance team and individual responsibilities by giving and welcoming feedback which contributes to building a positive team spirit. Puts success of team above their own interests.
A record of continuing education and training to keep up to date with innovative management solutions and effective analysis methods.
Have a proven track record of grant awards and management.
Effective negotiation skills with the collective bargaining process allowing for effective contract administration.

The starting salary range is $160,318 – $197,172 +/- DOQ and experience. The City of Milford offers a competitive benefits package that includes paid vacation, sick time, medical, dental, vision, group term life insurance and participation in the County and Municipal Employees' Pension Plan with the State of Delaware as well as a voluntary 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan. Per the City Charter, the City Manager may reside outside the City while in office only with the approval of the City Council.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online with a resume, cover letter and contact information for five professional references by January 31, 2025. Confidential inquiries may be directed to Riccardo (Rick) Ginex, MGT Approved Independent Executive Recruiter, at Tel: 847-380-3240, ext. 160.

For more information about the City of Milford, go to: www.cityofmilford.com.

Click Here for the Brochure

The City of Milford is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Application Deadline: January 31, 2025