MOORHEAD — Moorhead City Manager Christina Volkers is going back home.
Volkers, a North St. Paul native, is leaving next month to take a city administrator job in the St. Paul eastern suburb of Oakdale, which is in the same county as her childhood home.
She will also be able to be with her two sons and husband together there as her oldest son, who was recently married, lives in the suburb of Prior Lake and her youngest son will be going to the University of Minnesota.
The Oakdale City Council on Tuesday night, May 12, unanimously approved her employment agreement.
"It's hard to leave," Volkers said in an interview Tuesday night. "I feel like we've accomplished a lot and we've done a lot of good things, but there still a lot to do."
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She said when she was hired she believed the City Council wanted a strong leadership team that worked together and that's what occurred.
Moorhead Mayor Johnathan Judd echoed those words in a statement, saying that he has the "greatest respect" for Volkers.
"I wish her well in this transition. She welcomed me to my role as mayor last year, and we’ve developed a great working relationship since that time. She’s been a tireless advocate for Moorhead and has advanced the city in many ways," he said.
"In particular, I give Christina credit for instituting a formal strategic plan for the city and advancing downtown redevelopment," Judd said. "Our city is in a better place due to her leadership. We will miss her, but we also have a very dedicated and experienced team in place to manage the city during this time of leadership change.”
As of Tuesday, she hadn't officially resigned her Moorhead job. But when she does, there will be a 45-day transition period where she can assist with plans for the new or interim administrator and to finish other duties.
She starts her new job in Oakdale on June 29.
Volkers, who was being paid about $164,000 in Moorhead, will be paid a starting salary of $162,932 a year in Oakdale with some extra benefits, with her salary going up to $167,422 in January.
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Volkers started as Moorhead's city manager in late January 2017.
She previously worked in Southern California as a court executive officer for San Bernardino Superior Court. But she left that job Dec. 31, 2016.
Her other work experience includes court administrator in Stillwater from 2000 to 2009; senior administrative manager in Hennepin County, 4th Judicial District Court in Minneapolis, from 1996 to 2000; and accounting and administration manager in Ramsey County, 4th Judicial District Court in St. Paul, from 1988 to 1996.
The Forum's Mike McFeely contributed to this report
