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Franklin to recruit city manager and city attorney in parallel; clerk hire deferred
Summary
Consultants from the Berkeley Group told Franklin City Council Sept. 22 they will advertise for a city manager and city attorney in early October, screen candidates in November and hold on-site interviews in December; council agreed to pause a separate clerk recruitment and consider a deputy-clerk model.
The Franklin City Council heard a detailed recruitment plan Sept. 22 from Kim Payne and Steve Rosenberg of the Berkeley Group, who recommended running city manager and city attorney searches in parallel and delaying a standalone city-clerk recruitment.
"To me, silence means consent," Payne told the council as he outlined a compressed timetable: place job profiles on the street in early October, make preliminary cuts in November and conduct on-site interviews in December or January. He and Rosenberg said the group would present screening results to the council at its Nov. 24 meeting and help select candidates for on-site interviews.
Rosenberg, who described the typical duties of an in-house municipal attorney, told the council an internal lawyer can give "a much closer working relationship between that individual and the members of city council, the city manager and the department heads," while acknowledging that smaller localities still need the flexibility to hire outside counsel for specialty matters.
Council members debated the trade-offs. Dr. Johnson, citing past problems, said he favored continued use of an outside firm in some cases; other members argued an in-house attorney would provide quicker, more consistent advice and help the city keep documents and code work moving. Several councilors emphasized that an in-house lawyer should have budget authority to retain outside specialists when needed.
On the clerk position, Payne recommended that the council keep the city manager designated as the clerk under state law but create a deputy city clerk to handle day-to-day records, agendas and minutes. Payne said that approach often draws local candidates for the deputy role and avoids building a separate administration in a small city.
Councilors said they would proceed with two recruitment profiles (city manager and city attorney) and delay filling a separate clerk position. Payne asked councilors to confirm availability for the on-site interview period and said the Berkeley Group would have recruitment profiles distributed by the end of the next week.
Next steps: the consultants expect to post the manager and attorney profiles in early October, screen candidates in November and return to council with recommended on-site interview candidates at the Nov. 24 meeting.
