She’s young, fresh out of grad school, has traveled throughout Europe, plays the guitar and is the newest addition to the city of College Park staff.
Sara Imhulse, assistant to the city manager, is 27 years old and delving into the urban Washington scene headfirst, but not without experience.
She may show up at a local mic night or coffeehouse in the near future, strumming her acoustic guitar and singing homespun songs, but for now, she’s busy getting acclimated with the workings of city government.
Imhulse will assist interim city manager Joe Nagro with city affairs delegated by the College Park City Council. Nagro has worked without an official assistant since August.
“It’s gonna be a big help once Sara learns the city and some of the issues affecting the city … Sara will be an asset,” Nagro said.
After spending most of her life in southern Ohio, Imhulse graduated with a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Kentucky University last December and jumped at the opportunity to move east and work in big city local government.
She formerly worked as assistant to the city manager in Milford, Ohio, for four years. Milford’s population was less than 6,500 as compared to College Park’s approximately 25,000. The city’s individual processes and procedures will take some getting used to, she said.
Imhulse has served the public for years. In high school, she volunteered in a soup kitchen twice a week and spent time in a local resource center that distributed food, clothing and medical supplies.
She attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., where she studied African history.
The four-year community service scholarship awarded through the national Bonner Scholars Program required Imhulse to volunteer during her undergraduate education, which she completed at many nonprofit and government agencies.
She also assisted the Greencastle mayor, at which point she said she was “bitten by the [government] bug.” The job gave her the necessary experience to pursue a position with the Milford city government.
“I really like people and I’m very capable of doing things, and so maybe the combination of the two made me want to help people,” Imhulse said.
She’s transitioned to the policy side of community service, but Imhulse said government work is just as satisfying — the only difference is a government position allows her to explore policy implications before they are implemented, instead of simply dealing with policies’ effects.
Washington is treating her well, she said.
“Even though D.C. is so large and so urban, every single person I have come in contact with has been so hospitable,” she said. “The Midwest has that feel, and I never expected the East Coast to have that, but D.C. has definitely been good to me so far.”
She plans to stick around for awhile, she said.
“Up until now, I’ve just been planning to get my degree and move to an urban area, but I’m here now so I’m just going to take my time,” she said.
Imhulse was selected out of six or seven applicants. The position was filled after advertising for just three weeks in January. The city manager position, however, has been vacant since former city manager Sam Finz left in August.
There were more than 50 applicants for the city manager position following the first wave of advertising last year, Nagro said, but after interviews, the city council launched a renewed advertising campaign in January.
