City set to hire Allan Thoms, who held key posts in state government, as interim city manager

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Allan Thoms, a former mayor and city council member in Dubuque who has held several key posts with the state of Iowa, was introduced at a 3 p.m. news conference as the city's interim city manager.

Thoms, who turns 72 on June 2, said his responsibilities to his own utility consulting firm would prevent him from competing to be the city's next permanent city manager.

He will start the job Thursday, and Mayor Ron Corbett and council member Monica Vernon, who introduced Thoms, said he will sign an initial 3-month contract with possible extensions. The contract will pay him $12,500 a month without city-employee benefits.

Corbett made it clear that Thoms would be no "caretaker," and that he would help lead the city forward in the interim post.

Prior to the news conference, council member Justin Shields said he sat down with Thoms last Thursday for a 15-minute talk that stretched to nearly two hours.

Shields said he was sufficiently impressed with Thoms -- "He's got a remarkable life story. ... I don't think we could have found a better person to fill this position," he said -- that he asked Thoms if he'd have any interest in taking the city-manager's post on a permanent basis. Shields said Thoms said his wife would hear nothing of the sort.

For his part, Thoms said he his first priorities would be to meet the staff and to sit down with council members and see what they needed from him.

Corbett said he wants Thoms to help the city submit a good application in a competition for $30 million in I-JOBS funds.

Thoms has lived in Cedar Rapids almost six years, and he's been a member of the City Planning Commission for much of that time.

Thoms is a former chairman of the State of Iowa Utilities Board; former director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development; former chief of staff to Governor Terry Branstad; former mayor and councilman for the City of Dubuque; and former commissioner of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

In the private sector,  Thoms has served as a consultant for utility companies; vice president of public policy and external affairs for Verizon Communication Company; senior vice president of the Dubuque Packing Company; president of Rowley Interstate Transportation; and vice president and trust officer for Dubuque Bank & Trust Company.