Editor’s note: The following announcement was posted to the City of Beloit website on April 7. John Weidl has served as Whitewater’s city manager since November 2022 after serving as the interim manager for three months. Beloit’s population is approximately 36,000, while our city’s population is about 16,000. The latter number, of course, includes many UW-Whitewater students.

Beloit City Council Announces City Manager Finalists

The Beloit City Council has selected two candidates to advance in the search for the next City Manager. Both candidates will appear in a community forum next week.

The community forum is scheduled for 6pm Monday, April 13, at Beloit Public Library, 605 Eclipse Blvd. The city anticipates that the event will be livestreamed and recorded.

The candidates are:

• Daniel Ortiz Hernandez: Ortiz Hernandez has been in municipal management for 13 years. He currently serves as assistant city manager in Ennis, Texas, where he helps lead more than 240 employees across 12 departments with a combined budget of $74 million; he started in this role in 2024. He has previously served as city administrator in Kimball, Nebraska, and city manager in Wasco, California, and Webster City, Iowa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University and a Master of Public Administration with an Urban Management concentration from Arizona State University. He is an ICMA Credentialed Manager and a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
• John Weidl: Weidl has been in municipal management for 15 years and has served in the U.S. Air Force. He currently serves as city manager in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where he oversees 140 employees and a combined budget of $24 million. He has previously served as village administrator and economic development director in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, and as city administrator, clerk-treasurer, and director of public works in Princeton, Wisconsin. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and is an ICMA Credentialed Manager, Certified Economic Developer, and Certified Public Manager. He is currently completing his Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Following the community forum, the candidates will participate in additional interviews on Tuesday, April 14. The City Council is expected to make a final selection by Monday, April 20.

The City Council invites the public to submit questions for the candidates for the community forum to publiccomment@beloitwi.gov. Questions should be submitted no later than April 11, 2026. Not all submitted questions will be asked. The City Council reserves the right to select, combine, or adapt submitted questions to address key themes, and may ask additional questions of its own.