Montpelier — The City Council voted to finalize and publish a city manager recruitment brochure as soon as edits are complete, then hold a public engagement forum afterward and use that input primarily for screening and interview preparation, Mayor Jack McCullough said at the meeting.
Council members had debated whether to hold a public forum before the brochure was released so public input could help shape the recruitment profile. Ian Coyle, search consultant with Pracademic Partners, told the council the brochure was close to ready and that the search team had multiple public-engagement tools — a website, a survey and facilitated forums — ready to deploy.
The decision to publish first then hold the forum passed by voice vote. Councilors expressed both urgency to get the process underway and a desire for meaningful public input. Councilor Helen said she preferred starting recruitment immediately but still wanted public engagement early in the process; Councilor Carrie said she favored bringing the public in “sooner rather than later.”
Coyle said the survey and website will be live concurrent with the recruitment brochure and that the public forum could be used for candidate vetting and to help craft interview questions. He urged council members to send final brochure edits to him by the agreed deadline (one week from the meeting).
Separately, the council approved creating a stakeholder advisory panel to advise the search consultant and provide feedback on finalists. The motion to form the panel passed after a 3–3 tie was broken by the chair’s aye vote, establishing the panel and directing staff and the consultant to recruit members and present a final list at a future meeting.
Supporters said a small, diverse panel would surface perspectives regular public meetings miss; opponents called the panel redundant with the paid consultant and said the consultant could solicit targeted input via detailed surveys. Council members agreed the panel should be limited in size (roughly a dozen) to remain effective and that staff would return with refined categories — not names — for membership at the next meeting.
The council also approved the draft public survey as presented and instructed staff to proceed with outreach, including scheduling a public forum with enough lead time to maximize participation.
The council distinguished its direction from formal hiring decisions: the panel and public input will provide themes and feedback but the council retains sole authority to hire the city manager.