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Council liaison says city manager search underway; resident calls for open posting and public meet-and-greets
Summary
A resident questioned where the city manager job posting was and whether the Robert Half search firm had widely advertised the position; Councilman Peters, the council liaison to the hiring committee, reported that outreach is underway and said a posting will appear on the city website soon and that the firm has contacted dozens of candidates.
A Watertown resident on March 3 criticized what he described as a lack of transparency in the search for a new city manager and asked whether the search firm Robert Half had advertised the opening broadly. Council members and the council’s liaison reported the search had just begun and described planned outreach and next steps.
Resident concerns: Doug Allen told the council the position had not been posted on the city website, the Municipal League or other typical venues he expected, and said he worried the search might be limited to a small pool of candidates. “It just doesn't seem like a very open and transparent process,” Allen said.
Council response and update: Councilman Jason Peters (council liaison to the mayor’s hiring committee) said the hiring firm contract had only been signed “two weeks ago” and that Robert Half was in early stages of outreach. Peters said the posting would appear on the city’s website “as soon as tomorrow” and reported his committee’s outreach numbers: Robert Half had contacted about 70 candidates and 21 had expressed interest so far. Peters said the firm is using direct outreach and LinkedIn in addition to formal postings, and he described ongoing weekly calls with the search firm.
Why it matters: The council is planning interviews with the Home Rule Charter Midterm Review Commission the week after the meeting and the midterm review committee intends to provide redacted survey findings to the hiring committee and to Robert Half to help shape candidate questions. Several speakers urged public meet-and-greets with finalists as part of the process; resident Allen and others argued public interaction is important to evaluate how finalists engage with the community.
Next steps: Council members said Robert Half will coordinate posting and outreach, the city website posting was imminent, and the hiring committee will continue to receive updates. The council did not take formal action on the search at the March 3 meeting.
