The Emporia city commission will use professional help to find the next city manager.
Commissioners today began discussing proposals from five different firms — the Mercer Group of Louisburg, N.C.; Waters-Oldani Executive Recruitment of Dallas; Ralph Andersen & Associates of Rocklin, Calif.; Robert J. Saunders of Liberty, Mo.; and the Kansas League of Municipalities.
None of the five was picked for the job today, although Commissioner Ray Toso said he thought the league of municipalities should be removed from consideration.
“The league is going to have to work with whoever is selected (for the city manager’s job),” said Toso, who is a league board member. “I’d just like to see them have a little further separation.”
Commissioners Tom Myers and Bobbie Agler said that it would probably take about six months before a new city manager was on the job.
“I don’t think we figured we’d be successful in less than six months,” Myers said Tuesday. “Maybe four, maybe five, but probably six. This is the chief executive officer of a $30 million operation we’re talking about. It’s not something to go at halfway.”
Commissioners discussed which references to check on the agencies and whether to set up conference calls with them when the list had been narrowed down a little.
City Manager Steve Commons’ last day on the job is Sept. 15. His assistant, Mark McAnarney, will be the interim city manager until a replacement is found.
McAnarney has not yet said whether he will apply for the job himself. If so, he’d be following in the footsteps of Commons who was promoted from the assistant city manager’s job in 1986 after a nationwide search process considered 85 applicants from 33 states.
“Should he decide to be an applicant for the job, he would be given full consideration,” Myers said Tuesday of McAnarney. “Absolutely. We think a lot of him, obviously.”