Evanston’s city manager finalists are John Fournier, assistant city manager for Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Snapper Poche, director of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
They’re scheduled to participate in a virtual community town hall on Tuesday, May 3, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Fournier became the assistant city manager for the town with 121,000 residents that’s home to the University of Michigan in 2018 and says he’s helping lead “transformational changes” in the city with multi-modal transportation and alternative energy programs.
News reports indicate that last year Ann Arbor’s human resources director accused Fornier of harassment, discrimination and issuing illegal directives. But an independent investigator’s report cleared Fournier of wrongdoing.
Fournier previously worked in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as chief of staff for a council member, deputy chief of staff to the mayor and director of on-street and metered parking for the city’s parking authority.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political theory from Michigan State University and a master’s in public administration from Penn State.
Albert “Snapper” Poche is a program director for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and previously was program director for the Innovation Field Lab — New York, where he led the Harvard Ash Center‘s contribution to the Cities RISE Initiative.
Before that he worked for five years in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he rose to briefly serve as director of code enforcement for the city and was involved in a decision to contract out code enforcement services to a private firm.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Southeast Louisiana University and master’s of public policy degree from the University of Chicago.
Community members can submit questions for the town hall in advance online by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 2.
More information about the search process is available on the city website.
Thank you. Evanston is eager to learn more.