The Creedmoor Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce that Gerald C. Smith Sr., a veteran City Manager with thirty years of municipal management experience, will join the City of Creedmoor as its next City Manager. Smith has worked in the city management profession since the early 1990’s. He has a Master’s degree in Urban Management from Northern Illinois University, has held the International City/County Managers Association’s Credentialed Managers designation, and has worked in communities ranging from 6,000 - 460,000 in population. Smith presently serves as City Manager in the northeastern Iowa community of Maquoketa; a post he has held for the past four years.

Smith’s career began in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area of Deerfield, Illinois, North Chicago, Illinois, and Riverdale, Illinois. He has also served as an executive level leader for the municipalities of Upper Arlington, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and Junction City Kansas before beginning his tenure in Maquoketa, Iowa. Smith has held the titles of City Manager, Assistant City Manager, Village Administrator, and Director of General Services. He has also worked as a Municipal Management Consultant, having run his own consulting firm.

Smith has built a reputation of establishing and building solid foundations in new and established Council/Manager communities, and aiding them in finding their pathway forward. Smith stated that he “joined the City Management profession to make a difference. After growing up as a ward of the state of Missouri, the city management profession has taught me how to make a home and a community anywhere there is a desire by its residents to have one. I look forward to coming to the Creedmoor community, our new home.”

Smith has been married to his wife Florence for thirty-six years. They have three children, Shani, Chris, and Laiya, and one grandson Cameron.

“Gerald Smith brings a wealth of knowledge to Creedmoor from a decorated career in public service,” said Mayor Bobby Wheeler. “We are thrilled that he has decided to relocate to Creedmoor, and continue to move our city forward as a dynamic, diverse, and welcoming community. The Board believes that Mr. Smith is the right person to provide stable professional leadership for our staff during this important moment as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic while keeping the momentum of recent major projects like the Lake Rogers Park improvements, Cross City Trail expansion, and the construction of the Creedmoor Community Center. We know that he and his family will love calling Creedmoor home.”

In September 2020, the Board of Commissioners engaged Polihire, an executive search firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., to recruit a diverse pool of qualified applicants. After reviewing over forty applications, the Board of Commissioners conducted interviews with their top five candidates in December and January, 2020. Both Gerald Smith and the Board of Commissioners agreed to an offer of employment on February 2, 2021.

Smith plans to relocate, and begin work in Creedmoor in March.