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Harrington moves to hire League of Kansas Municipalities to run city manager search

Harrington City Commission · March 4, 2026

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Summary

The commission moved to award the city-manager recruitment bid to the League of Kansas Municipalities and authorized the mayor to execute the contract; the League outlined a 14–16 week national search process and a base fee of $7,800 plus advertising.

Harrington commissioners moved to award a contract to the League of Kansas Municipalities to conduct the city manager recruitment and authorized the mayor to serve as the project point of contact.

John Deirdoff, introduced in the meeting as the League representative, told the commission the process starts with a short online survey for elected officials and uses that input to create a candidate profile and community profile. "Once we've got that put together, then we bring that back to you for review," Deirdoff said, summarizing how the League assembles candidate books and conducts initial screening. He described a typical timeline of about 14 to 16 weeks from advertising to hire and said the League posts to ICMA and other national outlets; advertising is usually run for about four weeks.

Deirdoff clarified the fee structure: a base fee (he said) of $7,800 plus roughly $1,000 for advertising and up to $1,000 in direct expenses. Commissioners discussed the quote range in the packet (one figure cited in the meeting was roughly $9,800–$10,213) and confirmed that a formal contract would return to the commission for signature after the bid award.

Commissioner (speaker 1) moved to award the bid to the League and to authorize payment from the City Hall administrative budget; Commissioner (speaker 2) seconded. The commission then authorized the mayor to execute the contract and to act as the POC for questions from the League. The League representative said work would begin immediately and that the League would forward administrative questionnaires and a survey link to get started.

Why it matters: Harrington's choice determines who will run the search and shape the candidate pool for the city's next manager; the advertised search period and the League's outreach strategy will affect the geographic breadth of applicants and the timeline for a final hire.

What’s next: Staff will bring the contract instrument back for signature and the League will distribute its survey and administrative questionnaire to commissioners to begin the recruitment process.