Jason Gage has been named Brentwood's new city manager after a unanimous consensus from the Brentwood City Commission and will begin his new role on April 28.

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Jason Gage

"I am very excited to be selected as Brentwood's next manager,” Gage said in a news release. “Brentwood is a very special place. It is my privilege to work for this city commission, lead their highly qualified staff team, and serve this incredible community.”

Gage is Missouri native who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Missouri Southern State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Missouri. He is a credentialed member of the International City/County Management Association.

“We are pleased to announce our decision to hire our new City Manager, Jason Gage,” Brentwood Mayor Mark Gorman said in the release. “We believe Jason matches the culture and performance expectations of all stakeholders. Jason understands we are looking for incremental improvement and not structural change.”

Gage was offered the city's top administration position after a day-long series of in-person interviews conducted by the Brentwood City Commission with five finalists on Feb. 28.

Following interviews, the commission listened to feedback from the city staff department leaders, all of whom expressed their hope to see either Gage or Walter Denton lead the city, having met with all of the finalists earlier that week.

“Jason was my number one,” interim city manager Jay Evans told the commission. “I feel like he hit it out of the park with his presentation. If you looked at everything from his comfort as he was speaking, his professionalism, his apparent mastery of the topic with the way that he spoke – I was impressed with the graphics he put in his presentation – I thought, that looked like a product that one of our staff members worked up who’s a graphic artist.”

Within about ten minutes of discussion, the commission had come to the consensus on offering Gage the position.

“What I think I'm hearing, and I concur, with Jason Gage head and shoulders above [the other finalists],” Gorman said.

Recently, Gage served as the former Springfield, Mo. city manager. He served in that role for six years before announcing his resignation in October 2024 but agreed to stay in the position until Jan. 11. While in Springfield, he oversaw 2,113 full-time employees and a $507 million budget.

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.

In Dec. 2024, he was named as one of four finalists in the city manager search for St. Joseph, Mo. He had also previously been named a finalist for a city manager job in Manhattan, Kan. before withdrawing his candidacy.

After deciding upon Gage, commissioners then spent some 45 minutes discussing a proposed salary. The city confirmed after the meeting that Gage's official salary is $267,500.The salary range for the job was set at $225k-$275k, annually. The Commission is expected to authorize the employment agreement during its Monday night meeting.

Former City Manager Kirk Bednar earned an annual salary of $221,144, while Interim City Manager Jay Evans has been earning an extra 15% on top of his annual $193,190 salary during his interim role.

The commission narrowed down the 55 applicants to five finalists during a Jan. 30 meeting where they discussed previously submitted video interviews and resumes. Commissioner Rhea Little called Gage the “most polished” applicant during that meeting, while commissioner Nelson Andrews put him in his top three choices, and commissioner Anne Dunn said, “I could see it being an easy transition.”

Gorman along with commissioners Susannah MacMillian and Allison Spears agreed that Gage was professional and impressive but during that Jan. 30 meeting they questioned if Gage coming to a smaller community would be a “step back for him?”

Little, Dunn, Andrews also joined in sharing their enthusiasm for Denton, while Vice Mayor Ken Travis put Denton in the middle of his list, saying that Denton's decades of experience might be too long, saying, “he’s almost past managing things to controlling things.”

Gorman also saw Denton in the “middle of the pack,” while Spears said she “saw him as rough” and didn't like him as a candidate, and MacMillian added, “I don’t feel that his skill set aligns with what we’re wanting for Brentwood. He’s not on my list.”

Gorman, Spears and MacMillian shared an interest in the two finalists who were from Tennessee: Doug Lukonen and Andrew Patton. Commissioners Little, Andrews and Dunn expressed concern over those candidates’ lack of city manager experience. Those two had been classified as third tier candidates from the outside recruiting agency contracted by the city to handle the search.

Travis said he received a call from a friend who recommended Lukonen at the start of the job search. Patton, who previously worked as a Brentwood emergency dispatcher, came with a positive referral from Williamson County Sheriff and former Brentwood Police Chief Jeff Hughes.

This was the city’s second round of applicants and finalists after its initial job offer was declined by a first-round applicant, following the retirement of Bednar in February.