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Rasmussen Resigns As Bloomington Assistant City Manager

Steve Rasmussen
Jeff Smudde
/
WGLT
Steve Rasmussen was hired by the City of Bloomington as assistant city manager in November 2014.

Bloomington Assistant City Manager Steve Rasmussen has resigned, four months after ending a stint as acting city manager.
Rasmussen had been a finalist for the city manager position.

“I wish Mr. Rasmussen well in his future endeavors,” City Manager Tim Gleason said in a news release.

Rasmussen was hired as Bloomington’s assistant city manager in November 2014. He was named acting city manager in October 2017 following David Hales’ departure as city manager.

Rasmussen was named as one of three finalists for the city manager position. The city council in June announced it had chosen then-Decatur city manager Tim Gleason for the post.

“Tim and I got along very well, we remain good friends,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t have anything but good things to say for him. He’s a good man and he will do a great job, but life moves on.”

Rasmussen added the city’s greatest accomplishments during his time in city leadership was passing a budget during his time as interim city manager and helping to enact changes to the city’s trash and bulk waste collections to help plug a multi-million dollar shortfall.

“One of the great things we accomplished there was we did manage to balance a budget without having to lay anybody off and being able to get solid waste under control,” Rasmussen said. “That was a hard battle but it was a great accomplishment.”

Rasmussen didn’t give details about the opportunity he’s pursing, saying they are confidential for now.

Mayor Tari Renner commended Rasmussen for his service to the city.

“I’ve always had a great relationship with Steve Rasmussen,” Renner said. “He was always very responsive and certainly had the city’s best interest at heart.”

Renner added the city has no plans to hire a consultant to search for a successor.

“I think we have learned that we can do this with existing staff and we do not have to spend taxpayer money on an external consultant” Renner said.

The city paid recruiter GovHR USA $20,000 in February to assist in the city manager search.

City spokeswoman Nora Dukowitz said the search process for a replacement will begin at some point in the future.

According to a city news release, Rasmussen will be taking vacation between now and his Nov. 12 departure date.

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Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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