Jenna Tuma Offered Owatonna City Administrator Position
Following a comprehensive and public selection process, the City Council met today and voted unanimously to extend an offer to Jenna Tuma as Owatonna’s next City Administrator.
“Council Vice President Doug Voss and I provided oversight throughout the selection process for this important position,” said Kevin Raney, City Council President. “After considering a pool of highly-qualified candidates, it became very clear that Jenna was the best candidate and is prepared to build upon our values and lead us into our next chapter of growth.”
Tuma has served the City of Owatonna as Assistant City Administrator since August 2024 and, previously, as Parks, Recreation & Facilities Director. Her background also includes experience as Park Operations Manager for the City of Minneapolis as well as another 20 years of supervisory experience in the public sector.
Raney commented that the decision was made based on the results of candidates being interviewed by a cross-section of City staff representing all departments, the directors and with input from all seven City Council Members and Mayor Jessop. “Administrator Busse has mentored Jenna to prepare her to transition into a City Administrator role. We knew she was ready for this step; and we are fortunate it will be with Owatonna. We’re confident that this selection will ensure a smooth transition.”
Current City Administrator Kris Busse said “I want to congratulate Jenna and the City Council on this decision. Jenna will do a great job in this role and I am excited for Owatonna’s future.”
Once a start date, terms and conditions of employment are finalized, they will be presented to the City Council for approval at a regularly scheduled meeting in the coming weeks. The candidates were selected based on their education, experience and alignment with the City’s core values of Better Together, Community Stewardship and Pride in Our Work.
