BROOKINGS – Three men stated why they wanted to become the next city manager of Brookings at a meet-and-greet Monday at Café Coteau in the Children’s Museum of South Dakota. 

The three Brookings city manager finalists are Paul Briseno, Shawn Kessel and Sean Pederson.

City Manager Jeff Weldon announced his retirement in late January. He has been city manager for 10 1/2 years in Brookings, and his last day is set for June 30. 

The City Council is scheduled to select the new city manager on Tuesday, April 24.

Paul Briseno

Paul Briseno has been the assistant manager in Kearney, Nebraska, since July 2015. He and his wife, Heidi, have four children: a daughter who’s a sophomore in college, another daughter who’s a freshman in high school, a son who’s a seventh-grader, and another daughter who’s a fifth-grader.

Originally from Wood River, Nebraska, Briseno earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska, and a master’s degree at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.

Briseno was the assistant to the city administrator in Grand Island, Nebraska, from 2004-09; the assistant city manager in Hays, Kansas, beginning in 2009; and then went to Kearney.

He’s long been drawn to Brookings.

“I’ve followed Brookings ever since I worked in the city of Hays and it was identified as a peer community,” Briseno said. “Brookings truly is a progressive community that values quality of life, safety and it’s all very welcoming. It’s a beautiful community,” Briseno said.

In fact, Brookings is the only place on his radar.

“With that said, I’m not looking to leave Kearney, other than for the Brookings position opening. Brookings is a beautiful community, like I said, and I’d love to be city manager here,” Briseno said.

As great as he thinks Brookings is, he figures he can contribute quite a bit.

“I would say my years of experience in peer cities with major universities, working with comparable opportunities in those cities, the ability to build relationships and partnerships, work with staff and citizens and elected (officials) to move this community forward,” Briseno said.

Shawn Kessel

Since January 2009, Shawn Kessel has been the city administrator in Dickinson, North Dakota, where he was born and still has family. He is recently divorced and has a son, Braden, 20.

Kessel has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Moorhead State University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

He was in health care administration for Beverley Health Care as an executive director of a facility.

“I got my master’s degree while I was actually employed by the city of Wahpeton, North Dakota,” Kessel said.

“I worked there for 9 years. I really enjoyed that position,” Kessel said. 

“One of the things that I’m proud of in Dickinson, is we’ve been recognized nationally by a lot of different organizations,” Kessel said

Those awards include livingability.com’s Best Small Town in 2013; the North Dakota League of Cities’ City of the Year in 2013; No. 6 on Money Magazine’s Best Place to Live list in 2018; and No. 9 on Money Magazine’s Best Place to Start A Career list in 2018.

“There’s a lot of similarities between Brookings and Dickinson,” Kessel said. 

Those items are things he looks for in a community because they provide stability, employment and a “dynamic economy”

“There’s a lot of things I look for in a community,” he said, listing a county seat, a university, an interstate, good health care, a good K-12 education system, and a strong arts culture.

“I think I bring proven success and teamwork. I really enjoy and appreciate that team environment. I think any community that’s successful has to approach things from a team perspective … in order to really thrive and be considered a quality-of-life community,” Kessel said.

Sean Pederson

Originally from Vermillion, Sean Pederson has been the city manager of Bonner Springs, Kansas, since October 2015. He and his wife, Shannon, have two sons, Oliver, 4; and Otto, 2.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Dakota, and a graduate certificate in economic development from the University of Oklahoma.

While he was in graduate school, Pederson interned in the city manager’s office in Yankton, then went to work in the United States Senate in Washington, D.C. He was an economic development coordinator for the city of Hamilton, Ohio, and was city manager at Canton. 

He wants to come back to South Dakota.

“To be perfectly honest, it’s always been a position that I’ve aspired to get to,” he said of the job in Brookings. “Brookings lends me and my family the opportunity to be close to family and also being in a community like Brookings with great quality of life and to raise our family.”

He thinks Brookings is going places.

“I think there’s a lot going on in the community and there’s a lot of positive momentum for infrastructure and economic development and really bringing the community together around priorities of projects and plans,” Pederson said.

He’s been “very diligent” about working with different groups to figure out the priorities and get them to come together “with a common idea on how to go about getting things done,” Pederson said.

Another big thing for him is transparency.

“My career’s been about open government, really showcasing what it means to be transparent local government. That’s how I approach budget presentations, that’s how I interact in the community,” Pederson said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.