Duluth Hires Shearer as City Manager

In a brief called meeting Thursday afternoon, the Duluth City Council hired Tim Shearer, former city administrator for the city of Angels Camp, CA, as Duluth city manager. Shearer had recently been named the sole finalist for the position by a selection committee appointed by the city council after a national search.

Shearer will succeed Phil McLemore, who is retiring after 15 years as city administrator. The council recently changed the name of the position from city administrator to city manager to reflect the actual duties of the position.

Councilwoman Marsha Bomar, who chaired the selection committee, made the motion to hire Shearer and to authorize Mayor Nancy Harris to execute an employment contract with Shearer starting Oct. 31, 2011, and extending through May 1, 2014. Councilman Greg Whitlock seconded the motion. All four council members in attendance at the Oct. 27 meeting voted in favor of the motion. Councilman Doug Mundrick was absent.

Shearer has more than 20 years of experience in local government, including the past 15 years as the administrator for Angels Camp, a city in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

He previously spent six years leading Sycamore Township in Ohio. Shearer also has over 28 years of military service and is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Shearer holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Strategic Studies in addition to a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Political Science. 

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about this opportunity,” Shearer told the council. He and his family have already moved to Duluth from California and are getting settled in Duluth, he said. “I’m falling in love with the community.”

He and his wife Paula are parents of three boys Jordan, 18; Daniel, 15; and David, 14.

McLemore officially retires Dec. 31, but plans to stay on for a few months to assist with the new city manager’s transition into the job.