Bloomington City Council votes to launch nationwide search for city manager

At a Bloomington City Council meeting, the council voted 5-2 to direct staff to contract with a search firm and begin a nationwide search for the city manager.

Council members debated whether to appoint an internal candidate or run a competitive search, with proponents of the search citing the city charter and a need for a defensible, expedited process and opponents saying current staff have demonstrated they can run the city without an outside search.

The dispute centered on process and transparency. Council Member Loman said the city charter "kinda talks about the types of training experiences and the administrative qualifications that are needed for appointments or selection of a city manager" and asked for the same in-depth review the council has used in prior searches. "At this point, I don't have the information from the process that we have to be able to make ... an informed decision," Loman said.

Council Member Nelson countered that the council had already signaled confidence in current staff by not hiring an interim city manager and that those staff "have demonstrated that they're capable of doing this work." Nelson said the council should "codify that and ... give assurance to the rest of the organization" rather than delay city business.

One council member argued that if the council chooses a formal search it must commit to completing it quickly. The mayor said the search firm could be asked to shorten its normal timeline by about half. The mayor moved to "direct staff to initiate the, the search firm contract and begin a nationwide search for our next city manager," and the motion passed 5-2. The mayor noted that "the city council hires exactly one person and it's the city manager" and urged all council members to participate in the process.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff were directed to begin contracting with a search firm and to proceed with a nationwide recruitment. The meeting record did not specify a firm, a detailed timeline, or identify which candidates will be considered. The council did not take a separate vote on appointing any individual at this meeting.

Bloomington City Council members named several internal staff and past officials in discussion, including references to a candidate identified as Hadeen and a staff member named Elizabeth Tolzman; neither was appointed or confirmed during the session.