Selma City Council schedules city manager interviews, recesses to closed session

The Selma City Council on Aug. 26, 2025, scheduled interviews with four finalists for the city manager position and recessed into closed session to conduct the interviews, city staff said. The move begins the formal interview phase of the recruitment process for the city manager position and outlines how council members and department heads will evaluate candidates, staff said. Human Resources staff told council members they had prepared binders and rating sheets for the interviews and described the interview schedule and format. "Members of council, I have binders for each of you," Human Resources staff said, adding that application materials and prior interview notes would be available in each binder. According to the schedule described to the council, two candidates will arrive at 9:30 a.m.; one group will start interviews with the council while the other meets with department heads in the police department Chief's Conference Room, then rotate after an hour. The council will break for lunch at 11:30 a.m., and two additional candidates are scheduled to interview beginning at noon. Human Resources staff said department heads will have 10 to 15 minutes with the council to give their impressions and answer questions. The staff also said directors submitted five questions each; those questions were reviewed and allocated between council and department head interview sessions. Staff told the council they had "directed the directors not to have an open discussion about the candidates" during those interview sessions. The staff described a ranking sheet process for councilmembers: each member ranks candidates (1 through 4) to reflect their relative preference after interviewing all candidates. The council recessed to closed session "pursuant to Government Code section 54954.2(b), Government Code section 54956.9(d)(4) and Government Code section 54957," citing public employment and salary of an unrepresented employee and to interview the four candidates who appeared, the agenda announced. The closed-session interviews were scheduled to be held away from the public meeting room; no public votes were recorded during the special meeting. No formal hiring decision or public vote was taken at the Aug. 26 special meeting; the council moved into closed session for interviews and related personnel discussions, per the agenda.