Brooksville council narrows city‑manager search to five finalists, schedules interviews

The City Council selected five finalists from a 38‑applicant pool for the city manager position and directed human resources to begin background checks and set interview dates. The five candidates moving forward for interviews are Andrew Hyatt, David Hainley, Lisa Hendrickson, Dale Walker and Timothy Day.

Kyle Martin, Human Resources director, summarized the recruitment process: the job was posted on multiple municipal job boards, closed March 9 with 38 applicants, and staff provided council a packet separating candidates who met the stated qualifications. Martin said roughly 32% of applicants met the job description qualifications and that council members were given evaluation forms to score candidates.

Council members agreed to invite the five candidates for interviews and requested background checks and drug screenings before interviews where practicable. The council set a special meeting for panel interviews and a round‑robin interview structure; candidates will answer a standard set of questions in a public portion and then rotate through one‑on‑one rooms with individual council members. The council voted to conduct interviews in a special session and to consider a hiring decision at the next regular council meeting.

Councilors discussed logistics: staff will run background checks (estimated up to two weeks), coordinate candidate arrival and provide interview questions in advance. Several council members said they wanted director and staff input after interviews before a final council vote. The council also discussed allowing public observation of the candidate presentations and obtaining director feedback, but generally decided final public comment would occur when the council takes its hiring vote.

No hire was made tonight; staff will return with interview logistics, confirmed dates and background‑check results.