Lewisburg council approves manager job notice, OKs MTAS search agreement

The City of Lewisburg mayor and council on Monday approved a condensed job notice for the city manager position and authorized the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) to conduct the recruitment and assessment process.

MTAS representative Mr. Marsh told the council he had “condensed your in-depth job description into something that was more in line with what would be advertised” so prospective applicants could quickly determine if they were a fit; the fuller, formal job description would be provided to candidates later in the process.

The action moves the recruitment forward with several details discussed and recorded during the special-call meeting. Council members agreed to advertise the position broadly through MTAS, the Tennessee City Managers Association and ICMA affiliations, major Tennessee university channels and local/regional outlets; MTAS recommended the final candidate assessment be limited to three to four finalists. The council also discussed and reached consensus on key advertisement and qualification points including salary range, education and residency requirements, background checks and timing.

Why it matters: The council’s approvals set the public-facing job advertisement and authorize MTAS to begin attracting and screening candidates, which starts the formal process to fill the city manager role and determines what pool of applicants the council will evaluate.

The council discussed several specifics during the workshop leading to the vote. On compensation, council members discussed a regionally typical range of about $90,000 to $120,000; one member noted the most recent incumbent’s pay was about $109,000. The council asked that a one-line summary of key benefits (for example, participation in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System and health-insurance benefits) be included in the advertisement.

On qualifications, the council agreed not to require a master’s degree in the public advertisement; the formal, long job description retains a statement that a bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration or a closely related field is expected or equivalent experience will be considered, and a master’s is preferred. Council members reached consensus that the experience requirement advertised should be lowered from an 8-year minimum in the formal job description to a shorter, more flexible standard for the ad (the council settled on a 3-to-5 years range for the advertisement language).

Residency was a recurring topic. Council members reviewed City charter language (charter, section 1) that requires the city manager to “reside within 5 miles of the city limits of the city of Lewisburg within 90 days of his appointment to set office.” Council discussion noted that the charter requirement exists and that any permanent exception would require a charter amendment; for the advertisement the council decided to omit the 5-mile restriction from the public summary to avoid discouraging applicants and to address residency compliance at later steps.

Background checks and drug testing will be required for any offer: MTAS said such checks are typically added later in the interview/offer stage, and the council confirmed the city’s police department can conduct background checks if the council so directs.

MTAS proposal and assessment-center options: The council approved MTAS’s standard assessment-center service agreement to manage advertising, initial screening and finalist assessments. MTAS said the assessment-center package itself is not charged beyond the agreement, but travel, lodging, meals and any outside psychological testing or other third-party evaluator costs would be billed to the city. MTAS recommended advertising “open until filled” with a first review of applications at 30 days; the council accepted that approach.

Council members also raised procedural questions about assessment components such as role-playing exercises and norm-referenced personality tests. MTAS said final decisions on assessment methods (for example, whether to include role playing, written exercises or a psychologist-administered personality evaluation) would be made later and could be tailored by the council; MTAS can arrange psychological/third-party evaluation at additional cost.

Public comment and recommendation: Local resident David Perkin, speaking during citizen input, asked the council to consider in-house candidate Chris Rutsch, the city’s codes manager, as an applicant. Perkin provided his name and address for the record and urged council consideration of internal candidates.

Votes and next steps: The council approved the job-advertisement language and, separately, approved the MTAS agreement and authorized the mayor to sign it. MTAS said it would make the agreed wording changes and initiate advertising once the signed agreement is returned; the council agreed MTAS would provide application tallies and a recommended list of qualified candidates for the council to review at the regular meeting or at a special meeting.

A procedural note: MTAS said it would provide all submitted applications to the city and separately list recommended candidates for interview; the council emphasized that candidate names would be handled consistent with open-records obligations and that MTAS would not publicly release applicant names during screening.

The meeting record shows the council approved the job advertisement by roll call (Councilwoman Thomas — aye; Councilman Krecher — aye; Councilman Barnes — aye; Councilman Robinson — aye; Councilman Michael — aye). The MTAS agreement was approved and the mayor authorized to sign; MTAS will finalize the small wording changes discussed, then begin advertising and accept applications "open until filled" with a first review at 30 days.

The council will consider the contract with MTAS and advertisement wording at a subsequent special call meeting to formally authorize final execution and to confirm any remaining assessment-center components the council wants to include.