Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Manager Search topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Killeen council selects Affion Public to lead city manager search after four firm presentations
Summary
After hearing hourlong pitches from four executive-search firms, the Killeen City Council chose Affion Public to lead the recruitment for the city manager. Council members cited Affion’s community-engagement plan, two-year placement guarantee and targeted outreach as deciding factors.
The Killeen City Council on Tuesday selected Affion Public to handle the search for the city’s next manager, after hearing presentations from four firms that answered questions about guarantees, vetting and community outreach.
Affion president Scott Riley told the council his firm will run an active, multi‑step recruitment: 30 days of public advertising, targeted outreach to passive candidates, stakeholder interviews, a candidate writing assignment and layered interviews plus social‑media and background checks. “This is one of the most important decisions you’ll make,” Riley said, adding Affion will act as the council’s point person throughout the process and will include community meet‑and‑greets and recorded candidate materials for council review.
Council members said they valued Affion’s commitment to council engagement and community forums. Councilmember Brown, who moved the selection, said the firm’s plan to personally lead stakeholder meetings and to provide a two‑year placement guarantee were persuasive. Councilmember Kimball said he supported the choice because Affion demonstrated experience recruiting in Texas and an active outreach strategy that matched Killeen’s needs.
Earlier in the session, each firm outlined how it would find and vet candidates. Clear Career Professionals emphasized a practitioner‑led model with retired city managers doing semifinalist interviews; Government Professional Solutions highlighted a five‑step process that includes a grading matrix and finalist fit tests; and Strategic Government Resources described a national outreach network and recorded semifinal interviews for council review.
Staff framed the selection as a next step in the city manager transition after the current manager announced a retirement effective May 29. The council plans to work with the chosen firm to set the candidate profile, schedule stakeholder meetings and finalize the timeline for semifinals and finalists. Affion told the council it typically posts for 30 days, conducts initial screening and returns to present a ranked candidate pool for council action.
Next steps include council direction on the candidate profile and a schedule of stakeholder meetings and presentations the firm will facilitate.
