County Board Chooses Chester Native from Slate of 17 Applications for County Engineer

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Perry County Board of commissioners were unanimous in their decision to offer the position of County Engineer to Brian Otten, pending receipt of his IDOT testing results and agreement on some minute contractual terms. He will be offered a six-year contract.

Otten is currently employed as the Public Works Director for St. Clair, Mo. He has previously worked as the Public Works engineer for Franklin County, Mo. and for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Commissioner Sam Robb said Otten received glowing recommendations from all of his references.

Otten was one of 17 applicants for the position of County Engineer. It was a long process. The field was narrowed to 10 candidates who were each interviewed then narrowed further to five. Two candidates withdrew their applications during the hiring process.

The maximum number of candidates the county is allowed to submit for testing is five. The tests are 50 percent oral and 50 percent written. Grades have not been calculated. However, a state representative indicated that all of the candidates sent by Perry County performed well on the tests.

Further interviews were done with the five finalists. The interview proecess included an opportunity to tour the County Highway Department and meet the employees, as well as drive some of the roads.

Commissioner Jim Epplin noted the board was impressed with Otten's managerial experience. He had direct experience with a union workforce similar to what is in place here.

The County Engineer oversees the Highway Department and the Unit Road District. The board had previously discussed appointing an advisory commitee to help oversee the Unit Road District, but took no action.

State's Attorney David Stanton said that if the board chooses to create an advisory committe in the future, Otten would be part of the creation process. The board will allow him to settle in before deciding if anything needs to be done.

Otten replaces County Engineer Doug Bishop, whom the board chose not to re-appoint.