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BUCHANAN — Then there were three. Buchanan City Commissioners have chosen their top three candidates to become the city’s next City Manager. The city received 51 applications for the position and interviewed four people on Friday.

     Commissioners agreed Friday afternoon to invite back Scott Czasak, Kathryn Klemesrud and Tony McGhee for a second round of interviews on Monday starting at 5 p.m. A fourth candidate, Adam Kline, was not invited back for another interview.

The three candidates will be each asked to prepare a 20-30 minute presentation on infrastructure and economic development for that evening. Mayor Mark Weedon said the commission is expected to then vote on who they want to be the next city manager at their regular 7 p.m. meeting.

The goal is to have the new person start shortly after the first of the year. Current City Manager Tim Lynch announced earlier this fall that he is leaving at the end of the year. He served as interim manager last spring and summer and came back in December after City Manager Ben Eldridge resigned after only a few months on the job.

     Candidates Friday were asked a variety of questions on everything from their experience and leadership style to hypothetical situations on staff management and their knowledge and goals for Buchanan.

     Czasak has been the city manager in Caro since 2022 and was previously the executive director of the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority from 2020-22. Friday, he described himself as a “millennial, collaborative” type leader. He sees leadership as about doing what one is supposed to do and pulling together disparate views.

     When asked what he knows about the city’s recent managerial issues, he said he likes a challenge and would work toward healing the city. “I’m coming here with my eyes open,” he said. “I would like to think that everyone learned from that experience.”

     Klemesrud has been the Berrien County Elections Administrator since last October and is also a managing partner of the Taylor Klemesrud law firm in St. Joseph since 2011. She noted that she lived in Buchanan for a few years in the 2010s and loved the city’s small town atmosphere.

     She spoke about her experience in getting the county’s early voting system up and running, including working and planning with local municipalities as well as applying for state grants. She said she would bring a variety of assets including her work ethic if she is chosen.

     McGhee has been the vice-president of development services at Abonmarche since 2010 and worked previously for Cornerstone Alliance and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. He said he is looking to end his career in city government after working in economic development and engineering for most of his career.

     He stressed his experience in working with local governments to bring them together and to get projects done, citing recent projects with the city of Allegan and the village of Cassopolis. He said he sees real opportunities for growth in Buchanan and would work on infrastructure, redeveloping the city’s gateways and having a capital improvement plan.

The city manager search is being conducted by former St. Joseph City Manager Frank Walsh. Walsh has conducted two other city manager searches for the city over the years, one that resulted in the hiring of Meg Mullendore more than a decade ago and one that resulted in the hiring of Ben Eldridge last year.