Sam Anselm
City Manager, City of Joplin, Missouri
Sam serves as the city manager for Joplin, and has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Prior to his current role, Sam served as Joplin’s assistant city manager during the May, 2011 tornado, and has also worked for the communities of Ferguson and St. Peters, Missouri, gaining experience in volunteer management, municipal purchasing, and human resources.
His role in the aftermath of the 2011 Joplin tornado included facilitating the volunteer effort in conjunction with AmeriCorps St. Louis and the Joplin Area Long-Term Recovery Committee, administering a program that distributed 4,000 weather radios to the community, and assisting with developing and implementing plans for expenditure of disaster dollars received from a number of federal partners. Sam credits the success of recovery efforts in Joplin to the hard work and dedication of the Joplin family, which includes nearly 600 current and former employees, a supportive city council, residents, business owners, volunteers near and far, and our friends at the county, state and federal levels.
