The city narrowed a field of 48 applicants down to two and kept quiet its selection until late Tuesday when the council unanimously supported Draper's former city administrator, John Hendrickson.

"There were a lot of great men that applied for this position," said Mayor Don Richardson. "We're very fortunate to have John."

Hendrickson said he is not worried about coming in to an often tumultuous city that has seen nine mayors over its 10-year history.

"Even though there might be some differences, there's still a commitment to work together," Hendrickson said of the city's leadership. "When things go really bad, that might be the best time for things to get start getting better . . . and certainly there's the commitment that they'll make a good effort."

Hendrickson said his initial challenge as he starts the job - either this coming Monday or the following - will be getting to know the staff and issues. As the mayor's main adviser, he describes his working relationship with staff as "management by wandering," meaning he likes to go to people and discuss issues rather than waiting for them to come to him.

A 63-year-old father of seven and soon-to-be grandfather of 30, Hendrickson has a colorful history. Before leaving Draper after just one year for reasons he still cites as a "difference of opinions," Hendrickson was a city administrator in La Habra Heights, a hillside California town and, going further back, a city manager in Payson.

In all, he has 30 years of experience as a city administrator.

Hendrickson graduated from Olympus High School in Holladay and eventually obtained a master's degree in public administration from Brigham Young University.

But he has several other résumé items he can't talk about.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis and John F. Kennedy's assassination, Hendrickson was working with the Central Intelligence Agency. He also worked military intelligence during the Vietnam War.

"I'm not going to tell how much time I spent in Vietnam, because it was on a particular assignment that I'm not allowed to tell you about," Hendrickson said. "Can I say it did any good as city manager? Yes, you learn how to interview people and how to look people over to see whether they're being honest or not. There's always something you can learn from every position in everything you do."

sgehrke@sltrib.com