Brentwood Names New Finalists for City Manager Job

Two Middle Tennesseans are among the five finalists in the City of Brentwood’s continued search for its next city manager.

Brentwood residents can meet the candidates on Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 5-6:30 p.m. in the John P. Holt Brentwood Library’s Friends Gathering Room.

This is the city’s second round of applicants and finalists after its initial job offer was declined by a first-round applicant. Longtime City Manager Kirk Bednar retired earlier this month, and the Brentwood City Commission approved a contract to have current Assistant City Manager Jay Evans, who did not seek the top job, serve in an interim role until a permanent city manager is hired.

The five finalists were announced on last week from more than 50 applicants and include the following people.

Doug Lukonen

Lukonen is the current finance director at the Maury County Office of Financial Management. He has served in his current role since 2017, overseeing financial operations for the county government and Maury County Public Schools.

He has also served as Chairman of the Opioid Abatement Committee and is a founder of the Middle Tennessee Finance Directors organization. He is a member of the Maury Alliance Chamber of Commerce and Maury County’s Ambulance Committee, Growth Committee, and Rules Committee.

Andrew Patton

Patton is the current La Vergne director of Human Resources and has worked in his current role since 2021.

He is named in a lawsuit by a former La Vergne police officer who was fired and is suing city officials. That stemmed from a sex scandal involving multiple officers which was brought to light in 2023.

Patton previously worked in Human Resources with Amazon. He worked as a music and entertainment industry executive for more than 25 years. He founded the 20-Mile Group, a network that connects municipal leaders across Middle Tennessee. He served as an adjunct faculty member at Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee and Bethel University in Indiana.

Walter Denton

Denton is the current O'Fallon, Ill. city administrator. He has served in that position since 2002.

Previously, he served as assistant city manager for the City of Cape Girardeau, Mo. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he teaches High Performance Local Government concepts to graduate students in public administration.

Jason Gage

Gage is the former Springfield, Mo. city manager. He served as Springfield’s city manager for six years before announcing his resignation in October 2024 but agreed to stay in the position until Jan. 11.

He previously worked as the city manager for the cities of Salina, Kan.; Stillwater, Okla.; and De Soto, Mo. He received the 2013 Buford M. Watson Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Management from the Kansas Association of City/County Management, the highest honor for a city manager in Kansas.

Bradley Gotshall

Gotshall is the current manager of Lower Paxton Township, Pa. and has served in that position since 2018.

While still a senior in high school, he served as a two-term elected councilor in his hometown, as well as a library board trustee, and executive board member to a regional community and economic development non-profit.

He has worked with the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of Pennsylvania State Senator David Argall.