City makes hire to match its growth

POST FALLS – Alexander Ikefuna knows neighborhoods.

In Utah, an area that has seen brisk growth, he oversaw planning and zoning for the Salt Lake City Corp.

In Savannah, Ga., he served as a community planning administrator and a regional planner, helping target blighted neighborhoods for revitalization.

That’s one of the reasons Post Falls has hired Ikefuna, of Salt Lake City, as the new community development director, city officials announced this week. He will begin June 18.

City officials say Ikefuna’s more than two decades of experience in city planning will give the city needed expertise as it grapples with rapid growth.

Ikefuna will “move us ahead as we try to design better neighborhoods,” City Councilman Scott Grant said. “He has the experience, the education to bring us to the next level.”

Ikefuna, who now is a principal for ACI International, said Post Falls’ progressive planning attracted him to the position. He cited the city’s plan to develop a smart code, a method to manage growth by creating neighborhoods with commercial centers and walking trails and encouraging people to live near their workplaces.

“It’s very unusual for a small community to have that kind of orientation,” Ikefuna said earlier this week.

His philosophy of development with quality growth and strong neighborhoods matched Post Falls’ approach, he said.

“It’s a growing community,” said Ikefuna, 51, who was born and raised in Nigeria. “With that comes a lot of challenges and opportunities.”

Ikefuna, who is married and has three daughters, has worked as the planning and zoning director for the Salt Lake City Corp., where he supervised 46 staff members and managed a $3.1 million budget.

He also served as the community planning administrator for Savannah, and regional planner for the Southeast Georgia Regional Development Center. There, he helped develop and implement plans for neighborhood revitalization, worked on annexation studies and helped update the city’s comprehensive plan.

“Alex has a tremendous background in land uses and has managed growth and development for many years,” Mayor Clay Larkin said.

Ikefuna has a bachelor’s degree in geography and sociology from Marshall University in West Virginia, a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Akron in Ohio, and a certificate of public management from the University of Georgia.

He will earn $90,000 a year with Post Falls.

The community development position has been vacant since December, when the city fired Gary Young, who had worked with Post Falls for nearly 15 years. City officials have declined to give a reason for Young’s dismissal. He earned $82,000 a year.

Post Falls launched a nationwide search this spring for a replacement. Nearly two dozen people applied for the job.

Panels of city staff, elected officials, community leaders and local youth interviewed four finalists earlier this month. Councilman Grant said Ikefuna stood out among the candidates.

“He’s extremely bright. He just impressed every group,” Grant said. “That’s what we need to move us farther ahead.”