Crest Hill City Council appoints new city administrator

The Crest Hill City Council voted to approve the appointment of a new city administrator at its meeting Monday night.

Council members voted unanimously to hire Jim Marino to fill the role Heather McGuire, who left to accept a position as city administrator in St. Charles, according to a news release.

Mayor Ray Soliman added that Marino was chosen out of 34 applicants for the job from Illinois and outside of the state.

“I personally believe that Jim has the leadership skills to move our city forward during this time in our history,” Soliman said during Monday’s meeting.

Marino most recently worked as the village manager in Homewood, starting there in 2012, according to his LinkedIn page. The city said he has 30 years experience in local government.

During his tenure in Homewood, the village underwent extensive economic development and redevelopment, according to the release.

Marino was at Monday’s meeting and thanked the council.

“You have a lot of good things going on in the future,” Marino said. “A lot of good opportunities, a lot of things I’ve worked on in the past and I look forward to doing everything I can to help the community.”

Soliman also noted that he liked Marino’s experience in Homewood because of the village’s similarities to Crest Hill in terms of demographics.

“He came across as a very creative thinker,” Soliman said. “He gave us a couple of ideas that maybe we can certainly try to expound on here in the city of Crest Hill.”

Council members welcomed Marino and said he had big shoes to fill.

Marino holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

He will be paid $180,000, according to Soliman.

Marino will officially begin Dec. 20.