Homewood council votes 5-0 to keep consultant-led city manager interviews

The Homewood City Council on Jan. 29 unanimously approved a resolution keeping the next round of city manager interviews led by outside facilitators and restricting councilors from asking follow-up questions during those sessions.

Mayor Andrews, opening the special meeting called to consider item 150126, said the city received "61 applications for the city manager positions" and that consultants Sam Gaston and Kim Kinder had screened applicants and conducted nine interviews so far. "We received 61 applications for the city manager positions," Andrews said, praising the consultants' work in narrowing the field.

The vote implements the first of two resolution options presented at the meeting. Resolution 1 maintains the current process in which Gaston and Kinder, retained by the city to manage the search, continue to conduct interviews and select the questions asked during those interviews; the consultants will submit a recommended short list of candidates (council members were told to expect "between 3 and 5") after the remaining interviews are completed.

Sam Gaston, who joined the city in December as special assistant to the city manager, told the council that he and Kinder would provide a proposed list of follow-up questions for phase-two interviews and consult with staff members Keith and Jay. "We will be sending you, hopefully, today a list of proposed questions for the second round of interviews," Gaston said, and invited feedback from council members.

Councilors discussed transparency and logistics before the vote. One councilor asked whether future interviews would be public, noting that the city had conducted public interviews in the past. City staff member Mr. Murrell cautioned that "if the council elects to go public with the interviews and a quorum of the council is present, that is a special meeting under the Open Meetings Act and it would require 24 hours of public notice." The legal notice requirement informed councilors' deliberations about whether to attend interviews in person or continue the consultant-led, closed interview format.

Councilor Simmons suggested a practical compromise for transparency: councilors could submit possible follow-up questions to Gaston and Kinder and request to review the consolidated list in advance so that excluded questions could be explained. Mr. Murrell said staff would prioritize turning submitted questions around quickly to avoid becoming a scheduling bottleneck.

Councilor Armstead moved to "move forward with Resolution 1," and Councilor Simmons seconded. The council voted "Aye" from all present members and Mayor Andrews announced the measure passed 5–0 and identified the enacted item as Resolution 2611. There were no opposing votes or abstentions.

The decision preserves the consultant-run interview format for the remaining candidates while establishing that council members will receive a consultant-provided shortlist after the final interviews. The council adjourned with no further business.

Next steps: the consultants will complete three remaining interviews the following day, consolidate follow-up questions as discussed, and return a recommended short list of candidates to the council for subsequent consideration.