Council outlines panels and schedule for city administrator interviews

Council discussed the process for hiring the next city administrator and confirmed the interview dates for Aug. 17–18. Staff said the resolution creating the process calls for three panels — a citizen panel, a staff (department executive) panel, and a professional panel — each with separate sets of questions and advisory evaluations. "These panels will be doing interviews, so I'll have separate sets of questions... we'll be compiling their results, and that'll be presented to the council on Tuesday after your interviews to understand how they rank the candidates," the administrator said.

Councilors suggested names for panels (professional managers, retired chiefs, local managers) and agreed panels should not double‑book members across panels because interviews will run simultaneously. Council emphasized panels are advisory: the council makes the final hiring decision. Staff asked councilors to email additional recommended names within days to finalize panel membership.