City commissioners agreed on July 28 to proceed with a recruitment schedule for the city manager search that includes meet‑and‑greet and community‑tour activities on Aug. 11–12 and finalist interviews on Aug. 12. Chris Lowe, the recruitment consultant, described a format used in other communities: a public meet‑and‑greet and stakeholder tours followed by closed interviews and deliberations by the commission.

Lowe said the commission should budget roughly 90 minutes of interview time per finalist and urged starting interviews in the morning so commissioners would have time to debrief and deliberate. Staff said they would arrange public notice, logistics, and meeting spaces for the events; the meeting also identified the need to avoid scheduling conflicts and to ensure any executive‑session interviews comply with Kansas open‑meeting requirements. Commissioner questions focused on timing, public comment channels (written comment cards at the meet‑and‑greet), and how many semifinalists the commission intends to bring in as finalists for the interview day; the commission left that selection question for an upcoming special meeting where commissioners will decide finalists.

There was no formal vote; commissioners signaled consensus on the proposed event dates and the general process and directed staff to finalize logistics for the meet‑and‑greet, community tours and finalist interview schedule.