New city administrator to start this month in Mount Vernon

Courtesy Robert Harrington LinkedIn profile

Robert Harrington is scheduled to start Nov. 17 as Mount Vernon's city administrator.

A new city administrator is scheduled to take the helm this month in Mount Vernon.

Robert Harrington is slated to start in the role on Nov. 17, said April Hale, Mount Vernon city clerk. Harrington was selected from 18 applicants at a Mount Vernon Board of Aldermen special meeting on Oct. 21, she said.

Harrington, who could not be reached for comment by deadline, is joining the Mount Vernon municipality from Bourbon County Regional Executive Development Inc. in Fort Scott, Kansas. There, he's served as executive director for more than four years, and his career also includes work as director of economic development for the city of Houston, Missouri, executive director of the Grain Valley Economic Development Corp. in Missouri and state director of the Center for Infrastructure and Economic Development in Kansas, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

As Mount Vernon's city administrator, Harrington is set to succeed Joe Kelley, who resigned in June, said Hale. In the interim, the municipality has been led by retired City Administrator Max Springer.

In Mount Vernon, Harrington would lead a municipality with a 2025 budget of roughly $17.3 million and 36 full- and part-time employees, Hale said.