Four Finalists For Springfield, IL Fleet Manager Position
Four finalists will be interviewed in the next few weeks to be the City of Springfield, IL’s first fleet manager. The finalists, all men, were selected from a pool of about eight applicants, said Budget Director Bill McCarty. Two of the finalists already work for the city. Of the remaining two, one lives in Springfield and the other in Texas.
City officials hope to have the new fleet manager, who will be paid $90,000 and oversee the centralization of Springfield’s four maintenance garages and its fleet of vehicles, on the job in September.
CST Fleet Services, a consultant hired by the city, estimated that creating a centralized vehicle fleet system would save $5 million over the next five years. The 27-page report recommended that the city centralize its fleet, hire a fleet manager, better monitor employees’ use of fuel, and reduce both the number of cars used by city workers and the number of vehicle administrators.
An efficiency study by Maximus Consulting also recommended the consolidation, calling Springfield’s current setup — separate garages and fleets for the departments of public works; fire; police; and City Water, Light, and Power — "wasteful."
Mayor Mike Houston originally planned to pursue the consolidation of the four garages into two since none of the existing garages is large enough to accommodate all the equipment. The city is now looking at consolidating the four into one, which McCarty said would save more money. McCarty said various options are being explored, from expanding the current CWLP maintenance garage to using other existing city facilities. He said he hopes to put together a comprehensive plan for the city council to discuss sometime in October, with the consolidation completed next year.