Council hires Gorall as city administrator

The Rhinelander Common Council has picked Angela Gorall, the deputy city administrator in Woodbury, Minn., as the city’s next city administrator.

The council voted unanimously to appoint Gorall at its regular meeting Monday, Sept. 28. She is expected to start Monday, Nov. 16, according to a city press release.

The release says Gorall has about 26 years of experience in local government. That includes municipal administration, finance, human resources, strategic planning and community development.

“Angela brings an exceptional depth of municipal experience, but just as importantly, she demonstrated a genuine enthusiasm for Rhinelander and a strong commitment to collaborative leadership,” Mayor Kris Hanus said in the release. “The Council and our leadership team were impressed by her experience, professionalism, and hands-on approach. We are excited to welcome Angela to Rhinelander and look forward to working with her.”

Gorall has worked for Woodbury since 2018. She was hired as that city’s first assistant city administrator and was later promoted to deputy. She also heads Woodbury’s Administration and Finance Department, which covers finance, human resources and administration. Woodbury is a St. Paul suburb of more than 81,000 people. Her application puts its total budget at about $154 million, including a $62 million general fund, with 320 full-time employees.

According to her résumé, her work in Woodbury has included:

managing the city’s switch to a new financial, payroll and timekeeping software system

leading the annual capital improvement planning process

writing the business plan for a new destination marketing organization and putting a lodging tax in place

leading the city’s first labor agreement with its union firefighters

She also did early work on a local option sales tax and testified before Minnesota House and Senate tax committees. Voters approved the tax in November 2024.

Before Woodbury, Gorall spent nearly five years as administrator of the Village of Bellevue, near Green Bay. There she oversaw a $16.5 million budget and was head of human resources for 34 full-time and 44 part-time employees. From 2007 to 2013 she was the first administrator/clerk for the Town of Buchanan in Outagamie County, where she also served as zoning administrator. Earlier in her career she worked as a planning and public administration consultant with Foth in Green Bay and as a planner and data analyst for the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission.

Gorall has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from UW-Green Bay. She is a Credentialed Manager through the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

In her cover letter, Gorall wrote that she has been visiting the Northwoods for 20 years and lived in Green Bay for almost as long.

“The quality-of-life Rhinelander offers with the opportunity to apply my experience to help the staff and Council achieve the City’s goals is an extremely exciting opportunity,” she wrote.

She calls herself a hands-on leader who has “worn many hats,” including clerk, zoning administrator and HR manager. She wrote that one of her favorite jobs was working on a mowing crew.

“I’ve learned that the larger an organization is, when in an administrator role, the further away you get from seeing and feeling that value to those we serve,” she wrote. “I truly desire to hopefully find that value again in Rhinelander.”

In the press release, Gorall said she was “incredibly honored and excited for the opportunity to serve the City of Rhinelander.”

“Rhinelander is a community I genuinely care about, and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with the Mayor, Common Council, City staff, residents, and community partners,” she said.

The council interviewed two finalists during a closed session Friday, Sept. 25. The other finalist was Heath Eddy of Green Bay. He was city administrator in Kewaunee from August 2022 to October 2025 and has since worked as a community development consultant. Gorall replaces Patrick Reagan, who resigned in August to take a similar job in Michigan. Adam Gitter of Innovative Public Advisors (IPA), the search firm the city hired to run the recruitment, has been interim administrator during the search. As chief administrative officer, the administrator reports to both the mayor and the Common Council. According to the release, Gorall will oversee day-to-day city operations, help the mayor and council carry out policy and strategic priorities, coordinate city departments, run financial and personnel administration, and support economic development and community partnerships.