Mountain Grove hires Bates as new city administrator

The City of Mountain Grove recently announced the hiring of a new city administrator with strong ties to the community.
Dakota Bates, the current Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications at Missouri State University-West Plains, was offered the position on Friday, July 25 and will begin his new full-time role on Monday, Aug. 11.
Interim City Administrator, Rick Outersky, will stay on with the City through September to help Bates get acclimated to his new role.
“Please welcome and give him a chance just like you did me,” said City of Mountain Grove Mayor Lt. David Todd in a posted statement. “I feel he will make you all proud.”
Bates is no stranger to Mountain Grove. He previously served as a youth pastor for three years at First Free Will Baptist Church and noted that many of his closest friends still reside in town.
His ties grew stronger when he once served as a volunteer assistant coach for Mountain Grove Christian Academy. During that tenure, one game on the schedule changed his life forever when he met a head coach named Heather from the opposing Mountain Home Christian Academy program.
“We happened to be playing each other and the rest is history as they say,” said Bates, as the married couple is soon moving to town with their children, Charlie, 2, and Mason, 1. “…What a great opportunity to come to Mountain Grove, a town my wife and I met in. We would not be married today or met if it had not been for Mountain Grove....”
Before applying for the city administrator opening, Bates felt he ascended to about the highest position he wanted to reach in higher education.
This led him to thinking about what was next for him and his career, while feeling a strong calling for public service.
“Serving people is meaningful and impactful work,” said Bates, who would go on to apply for the city administrator role. “…I feel public service is a calling.”
Bates said he’s looking forward to moving his family to Mountain Grove.
“When you think about small towns and small communities, people come together like nowhere else,” said Bates, who grew up in Alton when it had around 800 in population. “I’ve had the fortune to travel all over the United States and see different communities, but nothing is like the Ozarks and small towns where people are helping people. It’s where I want to raise my boys, a town with a strong school system that has good opportunities.”
Bates’ professional background also includes his six years as the Member Communications Specialist for the Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative.
He is currently pursuing his Master of Professional Studies at Missouri State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Business Management from Western Governors University.