Monterey council moves forward with city manager search
MONTEREY — An ad-hoc committee, consisting of the mayor, will be created to oversee the recruitment of a new city manager in Monterey.
During the Sept. 16 council meeting, members approved forming the committee to work with the Human Resources Department and the city’s contracted recruiter, Bob Murray and Associates, on reviewing a recruitment brochure and timeline.
The council voted 3-1 with council member Jean Rasch voting no and council members Ed Smith absent.
Essentially, Mayor Tyller Williamson and Human Resources Director Brette Neal will look over the recruiter’s job description and salary description before sending it out on a search for a new city manager.
Concerns came from council members about adding an additional layer of scrutiny to the recruiting agency’s work, especially when the council had promised transparency to the public.
Council member Kim Barber said she preferred having the Human Resources Department handle the process without a committee.
“I am about getting the job done in the most effective way. There’s still enough transparency during interviews, special meetings, and through that process,” Barber said. “I didn’t think we needed to be redundant with an ad-hoc committee.”
Barber said she voted in favor of the committee, because she felt confident in Bob Murray and Associates, and the work that they’ve presented so far.
“I have confidence having the recruitment agency just working with Human Resources,” Barber said. “Brette (Neal) already knows what we want and can handle those preliminary things. But I understand wanting to have representation from the city.”
Meanwhile, Rasch preferred the recruiting agency just came back to the council directly through a special meeting or a presentation during a regular council meeting, negating the need for an ad-hoc committee at all.
“My hope is that we would all be equally involved in the search for a city manager,” Rasch said. “On Sep. 2 we had a great beginning. We all had the same first choice to lead us through the application process. I felt this was a great start. On the 16th I was disappointed. (The committee) was not necessary and it was not the advice that came from the firm.”
Williamson said his thinking was that groups of people can get nit-picky with things like job descriptions and wording, and since all the council members felt confident in the recruiter, that one person was enough to give the okay.
“I feel good with whatever the consultant is going to come up with me,” Williamson said. “I think the entire council is excited about the process, and we are trying to be transparent as possible while trying not to take too much time. and we’re already looking at a gap between the new manager coming on and our current city manager leaving.”
Hans Uslar, the current city manager, announced in July that he would be retiring at the end of the year after nearly three decades working at the city of Monterey.
