Ely hires Conrad’s Denise Hoy as city administrator

ELY - The city of Ely has hired Conrad's city administrator and clerk as the Linn County community's new city administrator.

Denise Hoy, who has been with Conrad for 21 years and has nearly 30 years of local government experience, has been hired to fill the job left vacant by former administrator Aaron Anderson, who took a job out of state in September.

Hoy is to start her new job in early January.

'It's exciting, Ely is a growing community and that's going to be exciting to be a part of that. I think there are a lot of opportunities,” Hoy said Friday.

Ely's more than 2,000 residents is almost double the 1,100 people who live in Conrad.

Ely's Mayor Eldy Miller said the community, located southeast of Cedar Rapids, has been growing in recent years and shows no sign of stopping.

Having an experienced city administrator such as Hoy is going to be critical, he said in a Wednesday news release.

'We are very excited to welcome Denise and her family to Ely,” Miller said in the release. 'Her background, skills and passion for local government will help us continue to grow as a community and achieve the goals set forth by the City Council.”

Hoy said a growing population provides opportunities such as increasing tax valuations, but also poses challenges.

'I think one of the challenges is just keeping up with the growth, such as with the infrastructure,” she said.

Hoy said she also looks forward to working with the city of Ely's staff, and focusing more on administrative duties in the new job.

According to Ely's fiscal year 2016 budget, the city administrator makes about $65,000 a year.

Hoy has served as President of the Iowa Municipal Finance Officers Association and as a member of the Executive Board for the Iowa League of Cities. She also serves on the Governor-appointed State of Iowa City Finance Committee, according to the news release.

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