ABOVE: Jason Baker, Fairmont’s new city administrator, pictured in his office at city hall. Baker just started with the city earlier this week.

FAIRMONT– Jason Baker is just finishing his first week as Fairmont’s city administrator. Baker comes most recently from the city of Oronoco and brings with him both experience in city government and in law enforcement.

While he’s called the midwest home for the past 15 years, Baker was actually born and raised in Seattle, Washington.

“I was out there through high school and early college. I started my associate’s degree out there and then came to South Dakota in 2008,” Baker explained.

There he attended Northern State University in Aberdeen where he studied human performance and fitness, fitness administration and coaching. However, that was not the field that he ended up going into.

“I was a police explorer in my youth and was always told by our officers that if you want to get into law enforcement, you should get a degree in something else because If you want to leave it, if you have degree in something else, you can do something else,” Baker explained.

He ended up enjoying being in South Dakota and after graduating decided to stay there and start his law enforcement career there. Baker worked as a police officer in Sioux Falls full-time from 2012 to 2024.

“Then I went to South Dakota State University and while I was there, one of the Brookings city reserve officers was the assistant city manager and said, ‘hey, you should think about doing this as a career,’ and he’s kind of been my mentor,” Baker said.

He further explained that while he was still working in law enforcement, he went back to school and got his master’s degree in administration and organizational leadership.

“I started my doctoral program until I eventually got hired on by Oronoco in 2024,” Baker said.

He spent about two years as the city administrator in Oronoco, a town near Rochester with a population of about 1,800, before accepting the job in Fairmont.

Speaking to what drew him to the position in Fairmont, Baker said, “Fairmont is a well-known town, even from my area… it’s an area I’m familiar with and had been through a few times going through I-90. For me, Oronoco is a smaller community and I’m from a bigger area and always had the desire to be in a bigger community.”

After doing some research on the city, Baker said he found some exciting aspects of the community and felt like he would be a good fit for the city of Fairmont.

“I like being active in the community as best that I can… I’m here and I’m invested in the community just as I was in Oronoco,” Baker said.

He acknowledged that Fairmont, like any community, has its challenges but said that he wants to approach everything with an open mind and build his own opinion.

“I’m coming in as a new face not only to the organization but to the community. I don’t have the back history so I have a fresh look. Not to say I don’t care about things, but the past is the past and we can’t change things. Let’s focus on the future, working together to move things, move projects forward,” Baker said.

Baker said that he wants to ensure that staff is continuing to move projects forward and that he wants the city to be as transparent as possible.

“I’m a big rule follower with my background in law enforcement. We’re going to play by the rules and do a good job here. That’s my goal,” Baker said.

Along with that, he said he also wants to promote effective communication between staff.

“There is a great staff here. Everyone I have met so far is hard-working and dedicated to the community. They want to do their job and do it the best that they can. They love the community and that makes it nice,” Baker said.

He extended appreciation to the staff for keeping everything running smoothly in the absence of a city administrator.

Prior to Baker coming, Finance Director Paul Hoye had been serving as acting city administrator since Jeff O’Neil left as interim city administrator in November of 2025. Fairmont had been without a full-time city administrator since Matt Skaret left the role in November of 2024.

With Baker coming in, another key role within the city of Fairmont has been filled. Now, the city is still hiring for a Community Development Director which Baker said they have received several applications for and will start reviewing soon.

“It’s all coming together,” Baker said.

He will attend his first city council meeting on Monday, April 27, which he is looking forward to.

“I’m just eager to get going. I’ve been immersed and have been hitting the ground running. I’ve had a lot of staff time and am getting my head around some projects. My goal in the next few weeks is to get out and start meeting more of the community,” Baker said.