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Council narrows city attorney recruitment process, removes written exercise and sets two‑day on-site interviews

Ames City Council · March 24, 2026
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Summary

Council revised the recruitment plan for the city attorney position: HR will screen applicants, councilors will review in pairs, phone interviews will be held by mayor + two council appointees with HR, the written exercise was removed, and a two‑day on-site interview (including public presentation) was approved.

HR presented a recruitment and on-site interview plan for the city attorney position and council debated membership of review subcommittees, the mayor’s role, phone-interview participants, and whether to include a written exercise.

Council settled the process as follows: HR will screen for minimum qualifications and provide a scoring rubric; all council members may review applications in pairs so no gathering exceeds two council members at a time during the screening phase; phone interviews will be conducted by the mayor and two council members appointed by the mayor plus HR; the written exercise was removed by council vote; finalists will be invited to a two‑day on-site process that includes a panel interview (scored), meetings with department staff, a city tour, a public presentation in council chambers (with invitations to ISU student government and local legal offices), and reference checks focused on finalists. The council authorized closed‑session debriefing to select a finalist and directed HR to begin advertising May 1.