Olivette Hires New City Manager

The following information was provided by the City of Olivette in a news release.

The City of Olivette is pleased to announce the hiring of Barbara Sondag as City Manager. Ms. Sondag is expected to start work in Olivette on July 29th. The Mayor and City Council completed an extensive national search and spoke with many qualified candidates to ensure that Olivette has a senior staff member dedicated to and highly qualified tooversee its day-to-day operations.

"The Council is excited to introduce Barbara Sondag as our next city manager. Barbara will be a great addition to our teamand we are confident that we have found the right person tohelp us manage the city,” said Mayor Missy Waldman. “We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship making Olivette the center of it all. Our city is so lucky to have committed staff, active businesses and engaged citizens and we know that Barbara possesses the experience and knowledge to help all of us preserve the strong foundation we have built while continuing to move our city forward.”

A native of the St. Louis metropolitan area, Ms. Sondag comes to Olivette with more than 16 years of local government experience. For the past 10 years, Ms. Sondag has served theTown of Brattleboro Vermont (population 12,400), where she has been Town Manager since 2007.

Prior to her current position, she spent four years as the Assistant Town Manager and Human Resources Administrator. Ms. Sondag has extensive experience in economic development, infrastructure planning and finance. As emergency management director, she helped guide Brattleboro through the planning and response to Hurricane Irene in 2011.

Ms. Sondag, was the Assistant Director of the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission in Champaign, IL, from 1997-2003. She holds a BA in Political Science and Business from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a certified professional in HumanResources.

“I am honored to have been chosen to serve as Olivette’s next City Manager. I look forward to meeting my co-workers and advancing the great work of the employees, Mayor, and Council,” said Sondag. “I was drawn to this position due to Olivette’s quality of life, its progressive strategic plan, and the Council’s collaborative working style. With each day I grow more excited in anticipation ofthe challenges and rewards that await, helping citizens,businesses, staff and Council to achieve our city’s goals.”