The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published January 14, 2014

He’s back: First city administrator to return home

By Jeff Thompson
CAMDENTON - J. Jeff Hancock will be reprising his role as city administrator next month, a position he held with the city in 1976.

The Board of Aldermen made the decision to hire Hancock during a closed session at its regular meeting last Tuesday, with Mayor John McNabb making the formal announcement two days later.

According to McNabb, Hancock was Camdenton’s first city administrator, starting in 1976 for approximately three years.

His first day on the job will be Feb. 10, with current city administrator Brenda Colter’s last day set at Feb. 28. Colter had originally planned to retire on Jan. 31.

McNabb pointed out that Hancock had initially hired Colter in 1978, a part-time position of city treasurer (or finance officer), moving to a full-time position as grant administrator within the year.

In 1980 Colter was appointed as city clerk and has served as city administrator since 2009.

The mayor said the city had received 15- to 20 applicants for the position but narrowed it down to three people.

“The (search) committee held informal interviews with three individuals,” McNabb said.

Once the committee had made its choice, Hancock met with the rest of the aldermen while he was in town during Christmas.

“He lives nine hours away,” McNabb said. “We were trying to avoid him having to come back for a formal (board of aldermen) interview.”

Hancock is currently the city manager of McCook, Nebraska.

He submitted his letter of resignation to McCook Mayor Dennis Berry, stating his last day there would be Feb. 7.

Hancock has served as city manager since October of 2011 and has over 36 years of municipal management experience, according to a news release from the City of McCook.

According to McNabb, 60-year-old Hancock is a Lebanon High School graduate. He has a family farm in Laclede County and owns a home within the Camdenton city limits.

“The complete farm has been owned by my mother's family since the 1830s and it has always been my intention to someday move to that location,” Hancock said in the McCook press release. “We always thought that it would be much later than now before we moved from McCook."

Hancock is married, with two children and one grandchild. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a MPA from Southern Illinois, Carbondale.

He has also served as Warrensburg city manager, Kansas City assistant city manager, Bolivar city administrator and city manager for Owasso, Oklahoma.

While McNabb is pleased that someone of Hancock’s experience is able to take over for Colter, he is not altogether pleased at Colter’s retirement.

“I’m sad to see her go,” McNabb said of Colter, “but you have to be happy for her. You put that above everything else.”

One of the first jobs Hancock will delve into will be helping to find a replacement for Mike Nichols who resigned last month as Assistant City Administrator to accept a position as city administrator in Hiawatha, Kansas.