“I’ve enjoyed my time here and certainly if I can help out in any way, I’m willing to do that.” That’s Manitowoc Finance Director, Steve Corbeille, who after 8-plus years in a critical position in local municipal government has announced plans to retire.
Corbeille came to Manitowoc in 2012, shortly after what was termed a budget snafu. It was about a $5 million dollar budget error 10-years ago that shaved the unassigned fund balance from $3 to 4 million down to $16,000.
“That was something the bond rating agencies didn’t really care for,” Corbeille stated. “They lowered the city to A1 and we were no longer AA. Ever since I’ve come to the city, it has been my goal to reachieve that status of being AA. We just did that in the past year with Standard and Poor’s.They recognized the hard work everyone here at the city has gone through.”
When asked to give his official retirement date, Corbeille says he doesn’t know. “I will certainly leave some flexibility,” he said. “It’s not like I drew a line in the sand and said ‘I’m leaving no matter what.’”
But, that time is expected-to-be late this year or early in 2021. Mayor Justin Nickels appreciates the role that Corbeille has played in restoring the city’s financial stability. He put it buntly, “We wouldn’t be where we are today financially if we didn’t have Steve Corbeille.”
Nickels added, with Steve’s leadership in the department, we’ve “paid down our debt and built up our reserve fund” which is especially important now with a major downtown in the economy.
The mayor anticipates the City Council tonight approving the Personnel Committee action of posting the position and following an interview process, depending on experience & qualifications of the successful candidate they’ll likely have an overlap or transition period for the outgoing director and the newly hired person.
