Dennis Taylor

Eugene, Ore.

Dennis Taylor, 60, sells himself as a battle-tested city manager.

He is a former Marine platoon leader, wounded in Vietnam. He said his experience dealing with university communities would be a major asset for Lawrence.

“It usually takes longer to do things in a university community because process is so important,” Taylor said. “They’re not a place for city managers who are weak of knee or faint of heart. But they’re usually the most exciting places to be a city manager because you’re talking about communities that have a real sense of place.”

Since becoming city manager of Eugene – home to the University of Oregon – in 2003, work has begun on a new $76 million federal courthouse that is sparking renewed interest downtown.

The city also has approved three new housing projects downtown, including a multistory residential building with studio space for artists and a $14 million Whole Foods organic grocery store.

He also was part of major redevelopment in Helena, Mont., when he was city manager from 1997 to 1999. There he worked on redeveloping an abandoned rail yard in the center of town. It now is a $60 million, mixed-use development that includes office buildings, condos, a hotel/convention center, a movie theater, shops and restaurants.

Dennis Taylor, 60, is city manager in Eugene, Ore. He received an undergraduate degree in 1968 from Kansas University.

Taylor also has Lawrence connections. He received an undergraduate degree from KU in 1968.

As the top city executive of Eugene – population 148,000 – he is leader of one of the more progressive communities in the country. Eugene has previously been ranked the “Greenest City” in the U.S. for its open space and use of alternative energy.

It is a community of sharp political divisions, which creates a constant hot seat for the city manager. In fact, Taylor’s applying for the Lawrence job created the latest controversy.

The Eugene mayor was quoted in the Eugene Register-Guard as being surprised Taylor was seeking the Lawrence job. Taylor did not inform members of the Eugene City Council that he was seeking the Lawrence job until he was reported a finalist by the Journal-World.

Taylor said disagreement with the City Council led him to explore other opportunities.

R. Leon Churchill Jr.

Reading, Pa.

“I’m interested in the job because Lawrence has a real opportunity to be one of the finest communities in the country,” said R. Leon Churchill Jr., a 1987 graduate of Kansas University’s department of public administration. “The citizens of Lawrence are really engaged and care. That’s really hard to come by in America these days.”

Churchill, 44, has tackled several economic development projects and dealt with tough financial situations. When he took over as Reading, Pa., city manager in 2004, the city of about 80,000 was running a $7 million deficit. He is largely credited there for reducing that to about $1 million this year.

R. Leon Churchill Jr., 44, is city manager in Reading, Pa. He graduated in 1987 from Kansas University.

Churchill said $100 million worth of private commercial development has occurred in Reading in the past two years. There was conversion of a vacant downtown warehouse into a 130,000-square-foot arts center housing 34 artist studios, four galleries, a film theater, cafe and classrooms.

“Artists are already coming to Reading, developers are coming to Reading to be next to it,” Churchill said.

The community gained two major food processing plants during his tenure and construction of a new downtown hotel.

Prior to Reading, Churchill was town manager for Windsor, Conn., a community of about 40,000 people.

He also has experience in a university town, as assistant city manager in Charlottesville, Va., home to the University of Virginia.

Reading’s population has been decreasing like many other Northeast manufacturing cities. Reading’s crime rate also is higher than the national average, according to a Money Magazine ranking of livable communities.

Churchill said the crime rate was one of the major issues he’d been directed to address.

“This was a turnaround job,” Churchill said. “Reading is a politically charged environment. It can get personal on occasion, and that is what prompted me to pick my head out of the weeds and look around a little bit.

Churchill is one of four finalists to become city manager of Dayton, Ohio, population 150,000.