Ozark Radio News had the opportunity to speak with new West Plains City Administrator Sam Anselm.
Below is a transcript of the interview:
Cody Sanders, ORN News Director: Sam Anselm of Wildwood has been hired as the next city administrator for the city of West Plains. He begins duties on April the 19th and replaces Tom Stehn, who has served as city administrator and engineer since September of 2011. Stehn set to retire on April the 30th. Anselm comes to the city of West Plains from the city of Wildwood, where he last served as its city administrator. Ozark Radio News had the opportunity to speak with Anselm and he talked a little bit about himself and how he got to where he is today.
Sam Anselm: Well, I’ve spent my entire professional career in local government, love public service. I started out when my grandfather was Marshall of the town that I grew up in and Wentzville, Missouri. And so, I think I just got the bug for public service from him. As I got older and started looking at career options, went to Northwest Missouri State and found that they had a public administration program, and really kind of fell in love with the idea of implementing the policies that are adopted or passed by governing bodies.
And so, after obtaining my bachelor’s degree, went to work as an intern for the city of St. Peters, Missouri, transitioned over to a couple of full-time positions in purchasing and human resources. In total, spent about 10 years with the city of St. Peters there, helped oversee volunteers for the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials that were held at the St. Peters Rec-Plex in 2004. And that was a really fun week, just because I got to apply some of the skills that I’d learned, not just in grad school, but just throughout my career at that point, but really enjoyed working with volunteers. That was one of the most successful events that the U.S. Olympic Committee’s had in terms of the diving trials.
But from there, St. Peters was a really great place to work, to the point where there wasn’t really a whole lot of opportunities I saw to move up. And so, I obtained my master’s degree during my time in St. Peters and an opportunity in Ferguson, Missouri opened up in 2008. So I went and worked as the assistant to the city manager there for three years, did some economic development things. We used some hazard mitigation funds to buy out some homes along a riverfront and we converted that space then into a public gathering spot, and really helped serve as the anchor for the Downtown Ferguson redevelopment.
But after about three years there, I wanted to get into the day-to-day operations and management of a city, and so, found an opportunity in Joplin, Missouri to serve as the assistant city manager. So started there in April of 2011. Six weeks later, the tornado hit. And at that point, we were all hands on deck, working on the recovery aspect. I did a lot of research to help obtain some of the grant funding for the projects that we knew we wanted to put in place. A lot of it was infrastructure related, because a lot of the infrastructure had been damaged post tornado. So using some grant funds for that, we started on the road to recovery.
And then three years after I got there, I had an opportunity to serve as the city manager to help continue with the recovery efforts. So it did that for the next five years. And then after eight years, a good run in Joplin, wanted to move back to the St. Louis area to be closer to some friends and family, and so, found an opportunity in Wildwood, Missouri to serve as their city administrator. And 13 months later, here we are in West Plains.
Cody Sanders: Anselm talked about what makes the city of West Plains unique and how much he knew about the city prior to applying.
Sam Anselm: I didn’t know much about the community, honestly, when the position became available. I’d known Tom through different conferences and things that we’ve attended for the last few years together. So I’d always enjoyed interacting with any city manager and administrator, because it’s a very small group and we all go through the same things. And there aren’t a whole lot of people out there who know exactly what a administrator or manager goes through on a daily basis, so that’s always a good networking opportunity.
But really started doing my research when the opportunity became available to learn about the community. I think there’s so much going on I think in West Plains. I love the idea that the city controls the water, the wastewater, the sewer. From an economic development perspective. I think that really helps the community, whenever they can leverage those types of resources to help attract businesses or industries to the community.
So what impressed me most, I think, in doing the research is the slogan, Make It Happen Here, is something that I think the council and the staff embody and they live by. The solar farm project, I think, is really unique in terms of city ownership of a solar farm that size. And I think that just indicates that the council and the staff are concerned about the residents’ long-term security when it comes to infrastructure and energy. So I’m really excited about that project, but then looking ahead at so many infrastructure projects that are going to need to take place over the next 10, 20 years with water and sewer. I think it’s just a really unique opportunity to come and bring some of my project management and leadership skills to bear on those projects.
And what really impressed me, I think, in the tours that I’ve had since the interview process started was just the staff. I mean, they’re just tremendous. I think Tom did a great job putting a solid leadership group together, and just interacting with them and the rest of the employees that I got a brief chance to meet when I was in town last, it’s a really exciting opportunity I think to come work with those folks. They all seemed to really care about West Plains and making it a successful place to live.
Cody Sanders: Anselm and his family are preparing to sell their house in Wildwood and make the move to West Plains.
Sam Anselm: I was scrubbing grout yesterday and we’re cleaning our basement today, just getting in the process of selling our house up here. I found a place to live down there until we do find a house, but my family and our kids are going to stay up here and finish the school year, and then they’ll join me in West Plains as soon as we get the house sold and find something down there to work on.
Cody Sanders: Anselm took the opportunity to talk about his family.
Sam Anselm: Yeah, so married to my wife, Jennifer. She’s my high school sweetheart. And well, we met in second grade, but started dating in high school. But I’ve been married for 22 years this fall and just looking forward. We have four kids, our oldest is attending Missouri State in Springfield. And then, the other three are, one’s in high school, we’ve got one that’ll be in middle school next year, and one’s still in elementary school. They’re my motivation, they’re what keeps me going every day, and just love hanging out with them and watching movies and playing games and all those typical things.
Cody Sanders: Anselm says he is looking forward to being a part of the West Plains community and being part of small town America.
Sam Anselm: We love the Ozark area. So we’ve really enjoyed our time in Joplin, getting to meet a lot of close friends that we still maintain a relationship with today. So yeah, I mean, I think one of the attractions I think in the West Plains community was, again, there’s a lot to do and still there’s that small town atmosphere that reminded me of home, where I grew up in Wentzville. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to getting plugged in down there, getting involved in community events, and getting engaged with different activities. Our kids play sports. So, as parents, that tends to be where we meet our friends is through our kids’ activities and through school. So yeah, looking forward to seeing my kids play baseball and soccer again and cheering them on. Swim team is something that we usually get involved with every year too, so looking forward to continuing that there in West Plains.
Cody Sanders: Again, that is Sam Anselm. He is the new West Plains city administrator, beginning his duties April the 19th.
