OSAC OKs city manager recruitment timeline; committee reviews 2025 work plan

The Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee approved a summary recruitment timeline for the permanent city manager on Oct. 24 and discussed the committee—s remaining 2025 work-plan items, including council retreat planning and possible quarterly check-ins on city manager objectives.

The timeline and interview format presented by Human Resources will aim to post a job announcement in mid-November, conduct virtual screening interviews in January and bring finalists for in-person panels and community forums in February. Cheryl (Human Resources) told the committee that the recruitment "announcement went live last Friday" and that a stakeholder survey launched the same day had yielded 110 responses as of the meeting.

The committee—s discussion focused on scheduling, panel composition and how to collect and weigh interview feedback. Ben Thurgood, the city—s continuous improvement officer, summarized OSAC—s work this year and a draft roadmap of initiatives for late 2025 and early 2026, noting the committee—s completed interim city manager work plan, the ongoing city manager recruitment, and council staffing work the committee intends to resume during the 2026 budget process.

Cheryl and Keith (Human Resources staff) described a multi-stage interview process the committee endorsed: a virtual screening round in mid-January, followed by in-person candidate visits during a multi-panel interview day. The in-person format would include a council panel, two community panels (business and community leaders, union representatives and civic group leaders), brief candidate presentations and an open, convention-center lobby forum where community members could speak briefly with candidates and leave comment cards. The HR staff recommended panel sizes of up to six people and using an online survey to aggregate panelist feedback immediately after interviews.

Council members and committee alternates raised process questions and requested time to provide names for community panelists. Several members urged including nontraditional voices on panels; Sally Perkins, who gave public comment, recommended drawing panelists beyond established power structures and also urged that the interim city manager—s work plan include a refreshed homeless-action strategy with updated data and analysis.

The committee discussed the timing of executive-session deliberations and legal guidance on when closed sessions are appropriate. Committee members expressed a preference that deliberations that would rely on executive session involve the full City Council rather than the committee alone.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Approve the summary recruitment timeline as presented by Human Resources, with an updated February 10 meeting date noted for the motion to begin negotiations. Outcome: approved by voice vote. (Motion moved and seconded; transcript records unanimous voice vote; exact counts not specified.) - Motion: Cancel the Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee meetings of Nov. 28, 2025, and Dec. 26, 2025. Outcome: approved by voice vote. (Motion moved and seconded; transcript records unanimous voice vote; exact counts not specified.)

The committee adopted a draft meeting schedule and a six-month look-ahead that flags potential calendar conflicts (Thanksgiving, Presidents' Day weekend, spring break and National League of Cities conference). Ben Thurgood said OSAC—s early 2026 priorities will depend on the new mayor—s committee appointments and the council calendar; the committee agreed to hold a limited set of items in Q1 2026 while the new council and committee assignments are set. Members also asked staff to circulate draft panelist lists with a hard deadline for submissions so Human Resources can include recommendations in the packet for the Nov. 14 meeting.

The meeting closed after public comment and the recorded votes; committee members noted follow-up assignments including HR—s work to finalize the recruitment timeline, check convention-center availability for in-person interviews and to circulate the stakeholder-survey results at a later date for committee review.