Nixa’s 17-year city administrator to retire

Nixa’s city administrator since 2000 is scheduled to retire next month.

Brian Bingle, who was hired as the city’s planning and development director in 1997, before moving into his current position three years later, set an Oct. 27 retirement date, according to a news release.

“Brian has provided an incredible level of foresight, commitment and professionalism that has allowed him to successfully lead Nixa through the incredible growth we have seen over those two decades,” Nixa Mayor Brian Steele said in the release. “His amazing depth and breadth of knowledge on a diverse range of topics makes him an irreplaceable asset, and he will be greatly missed.” 

Since Bingle was hired in 1997, the city’s budget has grown from $9.6 million to $39.2 million this year. The city’s full-time staff list has nearly doubled to 132 from 67 during that time, as Nixa’s population increased to more than 22,000 people from 12,124. Bingle also led the city toward completing several commercial developments, infrastructure investments and city projects. Nixa spokesman Drew Douglas said those projects included the purchase of McCauley Park and construction of The X Center; the purchase and renovation of a new Public Works building; infrastructure projects such as the installation of new sewer collection systems; and the current development of Missouri’s largest solar farm by Gardner Capital. 

“Over the course of the last 20 years, I’ve had the honor of working with some phenomenal people: committees, agencies, consultants, commissions, aldermen, councilmen, mayors and city staff,” Bingle said in the release. “Nixa is what it is as a result of all these people’s contributions.”

Nixa City Council tentatively plans to issue a request for proposal soliciting an executive search firm by late October. The city’s timeline is to advertise for applicants in January, interview them in early February and pick a new city administrator in late February, according to the release.