Forest Lake is once again looking for a new city administrator.
The Forest Lake City Council decided this week to part ways with City Administrator Mark Statz, who had been on the job for just one year.
Mark Statz (Courtesy of Mark Statz)
The decision to enter into a separation agreement followed Statz’s one-year review, which was held in closed session on Tuesday night, said Mayor Blake Roberts. The decision was mutual, he said.
Statz, who had been city administrator and engineer in Centerville since 2017, began working for Forest Lake on Feb. 18, 2025. Prior to that, he worked in private practice at Stantec for almost 20 years, providing engineering services for cities and towns throughout Minnesota, including Centerville.
“He is a super sharp, intelligent guy,” Roberts said. “He’s got his civil-engineer background, and so he’s going to do really well no matter where he lands. I just think there was a difference between him and our department heads’ and staff’s philosophy on things. When you can’t get the coach and the team on the same page, you just have to make a move, right?”
Statz was hired after almost a year-long search. He followed interim administrator/clerk Kristina Handt, who had previously served as city administrator in Lake Elmo and Scandia; Handt worked at Forest Lake City Hall for 11 months before she was dismissed. In November, she was hired as the interim city administrator/clerk in Grant.
Handt was hired immediately after the Forest Lake City Council in January 2024 decided to part ways with then-City Administrator Patrick Casey, who had served in the city’s top post since 2018.
“It’s been painful … hiring and firing city administrators,” Roberts said. “It’s been a frustrating process.”
Assistant City Administrator Jolleen Chaika has been appointed interim city administrator and plans to serve until a new administrator is hired, he said.
The council will wait until after the November election to launch its search, he said.
“Because Forest Lake has gone through this process a couple times here in the last three years, we feel very confident in (Chaika),” he said. “She’s more than willing to take the role through the end of the year here. Let us get through this election cycle. There could be three new council members.”
Roberts’ term is up this year, as are the terms of council member Leif Erickson, who was elected in 2022, and council member Kevin Miller, who was appointed last year to fill out the remainder of the term previously held by Roberts.
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“Whoever that next (city administrator) is, they want to know they’ll have the same council members for two years that they can work with,” he said. “Good candidates get gun shy about making a switch when (they may) not know who they’re going to be working for.”
Roberts said the city — whether led by an interim or full-time administrator — is “well positioned to move forward.”
“We have a strong, dedicated staff that remains focused and energized, and the council is confident in the organization’s ability to continue advancing important projects, delivering high-quality city services and embracing the many opportunities ahead for our great community,” he said.
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