Brookfield has all its top administrative positions filled with the arrival of Carl Muell, who steps in as the village’s new permanent public works director.
Village Manager Timothy Wiberg told the Landmark that Muell (pronounced “Mill”) started in the job on Feb. 19, taking over from interim director Robert Hartnett, who has been holding down the fort since last October.
“We were looking for someone with operations experience, who knows all facets of public works, and Carl’s touched every rung of the public works ladder,” Wiberg said.
Muell, who for the last six years has been superintendent of public works for the village of Westchester, has more than 20 years of experience in the field.
Born and raised in Broadview, Muell said he believed his experience in virtually all aspects of municipal public works made him a good fit for the job.
“Brookfield is in my wheelhouse,” said Muell. “I think they more or less decided they wanted someone with more of a history in public works, and I was a really good fit for that.”
Unlike Brookfield’s last two public works directors, Muell is not an engineer, but he has worked his way up from being a laborer in Broadview to a street department foreman in Lisle to his present position.
“We liked that his career had a steady upward tilt,” Wiberg said. “This is a logical step for him.”
GovHR did the search for Brookfield’s public works director and Wiberg interviewed six candidates. The search firm had been used when the village hired Amy Wagner as public works director in 2017. Because she left in less than two years, GovHR owed the village another search.
Wiberg said Muell’s long experience as a rank-and-file public works employee as well as a supervisor will be a benefit in a department that’s seen quite a bit of turnover at the top in recent years.
Including Hartnett’s turn as interim director, Muell will be the fourth person occupying the public works director’s office since April 2017.
“With his operations experience, Carl can bring guidance and leadership to a department that has seen a lot of leadership changes,” Wiberg said. “I think he’ll bring stability to the director’s office.”
Muell’s starting salary will be $115,000 annually. That’s a raise from his current salary of about $82,900 as public works superintendent in Westchester.
