Walker narrows city manager search to five semifinalists; interviews set for Feb. 10

The Walker City Commission on Monday selected five semifinalists for its city manager search and scheduled public interviews for Feb. 10, the recruitment firm leading the search told commissioners.

Joyce Parker, the Michigan Municipal Leaguerecruiter working on Walkers search, said the citys 30-day advertisement produced 28 applicants, including nine from outside Michigan and nine from the western part of the state. Parker said she reviewed resumes against the job criteria (a bachelors degree preferred, five years of progressive executive experience, and experience in budget/finance, labor relations and economic development) and narrowed the pool to roughly 12–15 for interviews, producing a full summary and a shortlist for commissioners.

"We recently completed the advertisement period, which was 30 days, and we have 28 candidates for the position," Parker said. She told the commission she identified eight potential semifinalists and marked five with an asterisk as recommended for interview.

Commissioners reviewed candidate summaries and exchanged their top-five lists aloud. After tallying preferences, Mayor Carey recapped the groups selections: candidates numbered 5, 12, 19, 26 and 27 will advance as semifinalists. The commission set Tuesday, Feb. 10, beginning at 9 a.m. in the commission chambers as the interview date and said times will be staggered and posted publicly.

Parker said her next steps are to contact each selected finalist to confirm whether they will accept an interview, provide the commission with each candidates cover letter, resume and reference information, and prepare a reference-report summary. She cautioned that candidates sometimes withdraw or accept other interviews; if a reference report produces disqualifying information, she will notify the mayor and the commission will decide whether to add another candidate.

Commissioners questioned the relative fit of candidates who come from much smaller jurisdictions or who served in administrative roles within very large organizations; Parker and several commissioners said they weighed population size, budget scale and direct experience with downtown development authorities and public safety when deciding fit.

The commission instructed staff to make the semifinalist names public when interview schedules are posted; commissioners also discussed reimbursing mileage or modest travel expenses if out-of-county finalists request it.

The next public step is the Feb. 10 semifinal interviews; Parker will attend and help facilitate the process and follow up with reference-report findings as they become available.