City manager seeks new job in Monroe

Tecumseh might soon lose its city manager to Monroe.

Dan Swallow, who has served as city manager since 2015, confirmed on Tuesday he was one of three candidates for the top spot in the city known as the home of General George Armstrong Custer and the La-Z-Boy recliner.

“I’ve been very happy in Tecumseh,” Swallow said. “But, I was approached by a number of friends and former colleagues to consider applying for the position in Monroe.”
His initial interview took place Tuesday.

Swallow said that he is interested in “furthering his career development.

“Monroe is a bigger community so it would be advancement,” he said Tuesday.

Swallow is no stranger to Monroe. The Alpena native worked for the city of Monroe from 2011 to 2015  as director of economic and community development. While there, he assisted the La-Z-Boy company with finding a new location in Monroe for a new world headquarters to replace its outdated Telegraph Road site.

Swallow earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Miami University of Ohio, and then attended both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, eventually earning his master’s degree in public administration. His career has included stints in Van Buren Township, where he was an environmental planner from 2002 to 2011 and then director of planning and economic development, and prior to that, in Toledo, where he was an environmental consultant and then planner with the Toledo Metro Area Council of Governments from 1999 to 2002.

“This was the first interview, so it will be a couple of weeks before I know if I will be considered further,” he said.