Cowley County Administrator Lucas Goff says he is not taking a city manager job in Lindsborg.
Goff told KSOK-NewsCow Wednesday afternoon reports of being selected for the job were “premature” and that he intends to stay in his position in Cowley County for the foreseeable future.
“There’s nothing there, in my opinion, my board knows where we’re at,” Goff said. “Lindsborg, for whatever purpose, found me attractive, and I appreciate that, but I’m not going to Lindsborg — that’s the story.”
Goff’s contract as county administrator is up for review next year and he said he had updated his information on job websites — including ICMA.org, an employment hub for local government administrators and managers.
Goff, who has been the administrator for the county since 2017 and was previously the county’s IT director, said a recruiter asked him if he was on the market for new opportunities and told him “not really” but was open to exploration.
Goff
Then on Oct. 21, the City of Lindsborg posted on its Facebook page that it had three candidates for its open city manager job, which included Goff.
The post stated interviews would be Oct. 27 and Oct. 28.
Lindsborg Mayor Becky Anderson declined to comment Wednesday afternoon on the status of her city’s manager search.
“That’s a personnel issue,” she said by phone. Official discussions so far, she said, had occurred in executive session.
She did say Goff had visited Lindsborg — a community of under 4,000 people between Salina and McPherson — as part of the job search.
However, Goff said it became clear rather quickly that the job wasn’t a fit for him and that feelings between he and City of Lindsborg were mutual.
He said no offer regarding compensation or benefits were made.
“There were no offers on the table… I told them we weren’t going any further,” he said. “I was told last week that they were going into executive session (this Monday) to determine what they were doing, but I’m out of the game.”
Goff said he had spoken with Cowley County commissioners earlier in October about other possibilities, including Lindsborg — where Goff said he has family in the area.
Goff said he is simply doing his due diligence for his career and family in case the commission decides to go a different direction with the county administrator position when his contract reaches the end of its four years next budget.
“I would have to address the board after the first of the year to engage in a renewal of contract,” he said. “It sounds simple and simplistic, but realistically, what’s going on is that right now, Cowley County is in the middle of a compensation study, and there’s a lot of balls in the air — there’s a lot of things moving.”
Goff’s contract is tied to the minority board term — or in this case, Wayne Wilt’s term.
Goff said he’s worried that because he was listed as a candidate for the Lindsborg position, county employees will worry a change in leadership is in the works.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” he said. “There’s nothing going on.
“Am I going to Lindsborg? The answer is no. Do I think Lindsborg is a great little community? It sure is — I think it’s a wonderful little community.
“Did Lindsborg list me as one of their three top candidates? Yes, they did. That’s it. That’s the whole story.”
(Editor’s Note: Shane Farley contributed to this report)
