Shorewood's Mystery Manager Man

It took more than five months, but Shorewood has finally settled on a new administrator.

Mayor Rick Chapman said the interview process conducted two weekends ago yielded a suitable candidate, but that he cannot identify the individual until the board gives him the green light and he gets a name on a contract.

Chapman also said he can't discuss the terms of the offer made to the aspiring administrator until the deal goes through.

The mayor expects the village board to address the matter during its meeting Tuesday night and — if all goes well — the deal to be finalized at that time.

The new administrator will replace Kurt Carroll, who served as village manager from 2001 until he bailed on Shorewood after resigning in April.

Carroll took off to work as the village administrator for nearby New Lenox, where he makes substantially more money at a reported salary of $153,000.

Carroll was soon joined in New Lenox by former Shorewood Economic Development Coordinator Nancy Roman, who also took a job with that town.

Roman said she is actually going to live in Texarkana, Texas, and fly in to New Lenox "three times a month." New Lenox is going to cover the cost of Roman's transportation and pay her $60,000 a year. This does not sit well with a vocal faction of New Lenox residents.

Shorewood has been without an economic development director since Roman split for Texas and New Lenox last month, but should have a village administrator by Tuesday night.

The Deerfield firm Vorhees Associates LLC was tasked with coming up with a pool of candidates to replace Carroll. The village board agreed to pay Vorhees up to $22,000 for the job, and Vorhees compiled a list of the top 100 applicants.

From that 100, six finalists were selected for a round of interviews with the mayor and trustees.