BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—The city council hired a Clay County employee as its new city clerk and the county’s former superintendent of schools as its new city manager.
Before accepting the city clerk’s job, Stephanie Silva was a senior deputy clerk at the Clay County Clerk’s Office. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas State University and has experience at the Alachua County Clerk’s Office.
Outgoing City Manager Lynn Rutkowski told council members during a January 8 meeting that Silva will lead the city’s efforts to return the MotoSurf competition to the city later this year. Twenty-twenty-four would mark the third year Lake Geneva would host the international jet ski competition, which CBS Sports televised in past years.
Rutkowski said the event’s sponsor has expressed interest in returning to the Lake Region. Silva will work with the county’s tourism development council to return the event to Keystone Heights.
When discussing the city clerk’s role last year, council members said they wanted the new clerk to operate as the assistant city manager.
After the council interviewed finalists for the city manager’s job, it voted to start contract negotiations with former school superintendent Charlie Van Zant.
During the January 8 meeting, Van Zant indicated that he and city attorney Rich Komando were close to concluding negotiations.
When Councilman Dan Lewandowski asked Komando about the status of his talks with Van Zant, the attorney responded that the ex-schools chief had the proposed agreement, and Van Zant added, “You and I can take two minutes after this meeting, and we will be squared away,”
