FAIRMONT–The Fairmont City Council held a special meeting on Friday so that the council could interview two new city administrator candidates, Jason Baker and Tiffany Duboski Ledee.

The city has been without a full-time city administrator since November of 2024 and without an interim city administrator since November of 2025. These two candidates reached out with interest in the position despite it not currently being advertised for. The council had last interviewed five candidates in September of 2025 but none of the three offered second interviews opted to move forward with the position.

Baker is the current city administrator of Oronoco, which is a city of about 2,000 people north of Rochester. Ledee was most recently the Community Development Director in Windom.

Throughout interviews with both, Human Resources Director, Rachel Viesselman asked questions previously selected by the council, which largely had an emphasis on budget strategies and communication styles.

To start, Baker was asked what strengths he would bring to the position. He said he would be able to bring a level head and consistency and he also touched on his experience in a law enforcement background.

“I’m a rule follower if you will. I want to make sure we’re following policies and procedures and our city code,” Baker said.

He also said that collaboration is one of his strengths.

“I’m a big believer in collaboration amongst departments. We want to make sure that we’re communicating effectively between ourselves here at the city as well as with the council,” Baker said.

Another question was asked on what his biggest challenge is in his current or most recent role and how he could translate what he learned into this role.

Baker said one of the biggest challenges falls back to communication.

“Not everyone communicates the same. Some people like one-on-one conversation a little more and some people just want to be held at a distance and want those emails because it’s easier for them to keep track of… other people want to be in the office and talk. Working to find that is one of the biggest challenges,” Baker said.

He acknowledged that the city of Fairmont has a bigger staff than he is used to so he said he would need to work on learning what the best communication style is for everyone.

When asked to talk about a project he’s proud of, Baker said in his current role he helped lead and facilitate the revamping of the city planning and zoning codes.

Council Member Randy Lubenow said that the city of Fairmont has been working on updating its zoning codes for several years but that it’s recently been on the back burner with city administrator changes.

“That’s probably about 90 percent of my complaints that I receive from businesses and constituents is talking about planning and zoning and building codes,” Lubenow said.”If you’re hired as city administrator I hope that you’re able to bring that project to a finish.”

Baker was also asked how he successfully navigated a challenging interaction with a highly engaged or outspoken community member or group and what strategies he used.

“This is something I dealt with if not daily then weekly in law enforcement… I found that coming in, remaining calm is important. Being rational and level-headed, providing facts, not feelings, on things is important to be able to lower the tension,” Baker said.

He added that he’s dealt with a few irate residents that he’s taken the time to talk to to hear their complaints or concerns.

During the interview Baker was also asked how he would ensure sustainable financial strategies while still aligning the city’s budget with its people-first values.

“You’ve got to make sure you’ve got long-range planning is what it comes down to,” Baker said.

Lubenow said that when the council has questioned what the department heads have put in the budget in the past it’s been viewed as a negative. He also brought up how the city is behind in budgeting for road infastructure and asked how Baker would attack the budget process by really trying to get the most bang for the buck of the taxpayers.

Baker said that Oronoco is in the same boat when it comes to roads so the city put a 10 year pavement management plan in place.

Council Member Britney Kawecki said that the city is also behind on funding for equipment and that she believes it’s because the city has stock-piled equipment by purchasing new without getting rid of old pieces. She asked how Baker would approach that.

Baker said he would question when the last time was that the city did an entire city facilities assessment.

Later in the interview, Kawecki acknowledged that the current council is divided and that there are problems between council and staff. She asked Baker what he would do if he’s in a conversation that turns inappropriate. He immediately said he would stop it, though acknowledged that it’s hard to stop everyone from gossiping.

“When it comes down to when we’re trying to do things, we’ve got to work through the agenda, get it done and move forward. If you want to talk about how your weekend was, cool… but I’m not going to sit and listen to, ‘oh did you hear what that council member said about this at the last council meeting?’ It just creates a negative feeling in the office,” Baker said.

Finally, Baker was asked what excites him most about the opportunity with the city, and also what gives him pause.

“I think what excites me most is being able to expand and grow myself. I know I have a lot of potential and a lot of knowledge,” Baker said.

On the other hand, he acknowledged that there has been a lot of turnover at the top in Fairmont and expressed concerns about being able to receive a fair opportunity to exceed.

“No matter who you bring in, it’s going to take time to learn the city and learn what’s going on, to grow, and really develop themselves in the role,” Baker said.

Next, the council met with Ledee. She, too, was asked what strengths she would bring to the position.

“I would say that my greatest strengths are collaboration and the ability to encourage community participation,” Ledee said.

She added that she’s also strong at collecting data and presenting it in a way that can be digested by a variety of groups of people.

Ledee was also asked to speak about how she successfully navigated a challenging interaction with a highly engaged or outspoken community member or group and what strategies she used.

When she started her last position, Ledee said there was an interesting culture around the city and specifically her department.

“There was an individual on Facebook of all places, who had a lot to say about things that were going on and it was creating a lot of divisiveness in the community,” she said.

However, when she came in, she said she worked to create a sense of transparency in the community.

Kawecki asked what the outcome of more transparency was. Ledee said there was a lot of misinformation coming from the Facebook page so she took the approach of putting out concise, firm and informative press releases to ensure that all of the information that was necessary was out.

“Ultimately that individual ended up deleting his page,” Ledee said. “It ended up being a major community benefit.”

Ledee was also asked to describe her style when meeting with city staff and council. She said she is a relational person and that she is firm when there are set expectations.

“I do believe that the structure is incredibly important because expectations guide us in everything that we’re doing,” she said.

Next, Ledee, too, was asked how she would ensure sustainable financial strategies while still aligning the city’s budget with its people-first values.

“I have a major strength in grant writing and coordination. I have had several years of experience with foundational grants with individual and large donors and state and federal grants. I am very strong with grant writing,” she said.

Later, Ledee was told that the city has experienced leadership changes over the last several years and is dedicated to establishing a working environment that is high-performing, stable and healthy. She was asked how she would approach promoting a motivated and collaborative culture.

“It’s incredibly important to make sure that the city administrator is treating their role as one where you are building relationships and are able to promote a welcoming environment for everyone. That’s important leadership for department heads to have to be able to do that within their own departments, too,” she said.

Similarly, Ledee was asked how she would balance internal leadership with communicating and engaging with community stakeholders, state and regional leaders.

“For me, I take a really similar approach to all of it, honestly, so I don’t see it as something that I have to balance. It’s all the same function underneath. It’s knowing what the expectations are and what is actually on the books and knowing what is actually going on,” Ledee said.

To end the interview, she was also asked what excites her most about the position and what gives her pause.

Ledee called Fairmont a brilliant city within the region and one that stands out for many reasons.

As for what gives her pause, Ledee said she has a bit of a speciality background in crisis management.

“It’s an opportunity is what it is. It’s an opportunity in growth,” she said.

After both interviews were concluded, the council held a brief meeting to discuss the candidates. Council Member Randy Lubenow made a motion to discuss the candidates further at the city council meeting on Monday, Jan 12 and the motion unanimously passed.q