Rick Johnson

The interviewing process for the new Winnebago City Administrator will begin on Monday.

The council will meet at 6 p.m with the six finalists separately and will allow 30 minutes per interview.

“The council members will have 20 minutes for questions,” councilman Rick Johnson says. “Then 10 minutes are alloted at the end of each interview for questions or comments from the individual.”

The six finalists were determined at the Oct. 18 meeting include; Chris Ziegler, Raymond French, Robin Leslie, Sam Hansen, Brian Moehnke and Sarah Friesen.

Hansen will be the first to be interviewed. He lives in Red Wing and is an assistant manager at the Walmart Supercenter there.

He graduated from Minnesota State University- Mankato with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement. He went on to complete a master’s degree in public administration and has applied to Winnebago in hopes to get his start in that field of work.

Moehnke will be interviewed second. He lives in Rochester and works as the program coordinator at Southeast Minnesota Immunization Connection, which is a small health information exchange.He has a degree in political science and public administration and a master’s in public administration from Minnesota State University-Mankato.

Friesen lives in Mountain Lake. She has served as administrator in Minneota since 2010. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.

French lives in Eagan and at the moment he is serving as the administrator service intern for the city of St. Louis Park.

He obtained his bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He also has a law degree from Hamline University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public administration.

Leslie lives in Oshkosh, Wis., but is a Blue Earth Area grad. She attended the College of St. Benedict where she received a bachelor’s degree in government. She then went on to get her master’s degree from Mankato State University-Mankato in public administration. She is employed by the city of Oshkosh.

Former Winnebago councilman Ziegler will also be considered at the first round of interviews. He is the director of business management for human services of Faribault and Martin Counties.

He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a minor in business administration from Minnesota State University-Mankato.

Ziegler has also been employed by the city of Winnebago in the past. He served as the administrative assistant from 2005-2007.

The finalists will be ranked in order by the council members. The finalists ranked as top three will be brought back for the second-round interviews.

“We have received one more application,”?Johnson adds. “That will be looked at after the first round of interviews have been completed.”

The second round of interviews are scheduled for Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.