Springfield City Manager

At a special meeting today, Springfield City Council approved the hiring of a new city manager: David Cameron, who will be paid $350,000 per year. The outcome shows Council is divided on the best approaches for improving Missouri’s third-largest city.

You could count them on one hand: In a city including more than 170,000 residents, five people turned out at Monday night’s Springfield City Council meeting to comment on Council’s proposed choice for city manager: David Cameron, current city administrator for Republic.

David Cameron, who will take the helm in July, said personal experience has made him an advocate for mental wellness.

City Council chose current Republic City Administrator David Cameron for the position.

City Council selected David Cameron, Republic's current city administrator, to be Springfield's 14th city manager. Cameron has been Republic's top employee since 2016. Working for Springfield, he'll be paid $350,000 per year as his contract begins.

After an online town hall Tuesday night and breakfast muffins with community stakeholder groups the next morning, three finalists for the Springfield city manager job faced the news media.

Three candidates for Springfield's open city manager job had a public interview Tuesday night. They'll continue interview activities with a community stakeholders breakfast Wednesday morning, followed by meetings with city staff and an interview by City Council.

Former City Manager Jason Gage resigned in mid-January and is now city manager of Brentwood, Tennessee. Late last month, Springfield City Council announced the city manager's starting pay would be raised to $350,000; Gage was paid $220,000 per year when he was hired back in 2018. He received a severance worth roughly $415,000 upon his resignation.

The city manager position's starting pay has been increased to $350,000. When previous city manager Jason Gage was hired in 2018, he was paid $220,000 per year. He received a severance package worth more than $415,000 upon his resignation.

Jason Gage — who as city manager is the top city staffer reporting directly to elected officials on the City Council — is resigning, effective January 11.