Council directs staff to contact preferred city manager candidate pending contract and background checks

Council members returned to the city manager hiring process after conducting open interviews on Feb. 24. Several councilors said they were comfortable with one top candidate and favored contacting that person to negotiate contract terms while completing background checks and pre-employment screenings. One councilor suggested making any offer contingent on a background check; another recommended negotiating contract terms (salary, benefits, vacation) in a small committee before firming an offer.

The council instructed human-resources staff and the city manager's office to begin outreach and to prepare a negotiation template for council review; the presiding officer emphasized that any final contract would still require council approval. The transcript records some name variations for the preferred candidate (mentions of "Z Carlson," "Z Jackson," "Quincy Mayes" and "Z. Jackson" appear in rapid succession) and staff said they would verify contract and background details before proceeding.

Council members debated whether to re-open interviews to additional candidates versus quickly attempting to secure the top choice; the majority favored outreach and parallel background checks to avoid losing a preferred candidate. The council approved a motion to contact the candidate and directed the personnel committee and HR to prepare initial contract language for negotiation.