City Commission To Interview Two Candidates For manager

Two candidates for the position of city manager of Benton Harbor will be brought in for interviews by the city commission. The body on Monday approved seeking interviews with current Interim City Manager Ellis Mitchell and former Valdez, Alaska City Manager Elke Doom. They were the final two candidates of ten that applied for the job through a posting at the Michigan Municipal League. At Monday’s city commission meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Duane Seats said he thinks the job should be posted in more places.

“There’s worldwide talent that would probably love, with all of the development that’s coming into Benton Harbor, to come into Benton Harbor,” Seats said.

Ellis Mitchel, prior to taking over the city manager post in Benton Harbor on an interim basis, had been a city manager in East St. Louis, Illinois and East Point, Georgia, among other places. He was also the city manager in Benton Harbor from 1983 to 1987. Elke Doom has also been a city manager in Oxford, North Carolina and Princeton, West Virginia, but currently lives in Huron Township, Michigan. Dates for the interviews have not yet been set.