St. Joseph receives 24 applications as city manager search narrows
By Cameron Montemayor
Two dozen candidates have thrown their hat into the ring for St. Joseph’s open city manager position.
A deadline for submitting applications ended on Sunday with 24 being received by Strategic Government Resources, an international consulting firm hired by the city to carry out the search process.
“It was very encouraging to us,” Mayor John Josendale said. “We had heard comment from them about a week ago there were 18 and then the final was 24, 25 that had come in. Now they will review that.”
SGR already has conducted preliminary interviews with councilmembers and city staff to get feedback and is now preparing to interview and conduct background checks on the applicants, with subsequent plans to identify approximately eight to 10 candidates for the council to consider for advancement.
“Part of the package in how they do it is they send out information about the city and what we’re looking for. In doing that, it helps draw in those candidates,” Josendale said. “They’ve got a good network which helps a lot in being able to get good quality candidates applying.”
The city manager role has been held in the interim by Clint Thompson, the director of planning and community development, since former city manager Bryan Carter resigned on Sept. 6, citing a desire to return to his background in law.
The council is expected to have the list of semifinalists by Nov. 22 and will meet with the consultant before the end of the month to determine a list of four to five finalists for on-site interviews.
The time frame for on-site interviews of the finalists with the council is anticipated for the second week of December. The process will include public engagement opportunities between candidates and city leaders, staff and community members.
“We would like to look at something right after the first of the year to have somebody on board,” Josendale said. “Part of the reasoning behind that again, too, is our fiscal year starts July 1. So we’ll be working in the budget season right after the first of the year.”
Josendale confirmed there are no internal candidates among the 24 applications submitted.
