Bay City commission names local candidate Rick Hayman preferred for city manager

The Bay City City Commission voted 5-4 on June 18 to designate Rick Hayman as its preferred candidate for city manager after holding second-round, in-person interviews with Hayman and Brian Chapman and taking public comment.

The motion, moved by Commissioner DeWitt and seconded by Commissioner Tenney, also named Chapman the second-preferred candidate and authorized the city manager’s office and the city attorney to work with the preferred candidate to draft an employment agreement, with any offer conditioned on background checks and pre-employment screening. In a roll-call vote the commission recorded five yes votes and four nos; the clerk announced the motion passed.

Hayman, who told the commission “Bay City is home,” emphasized local knowledge and relationship-building in his opening statement, recounting nearly three decades of work across local, state and federal roles and saying he and his family have deep ties to the area. He focused repeatedly on infrastructure and neighborhood equity, saying he reviewed the city’s transportation asset management materials and that roughly 91% of Bay City’s local roads have PASER ratings of 4 or less and that current annual spending “doesn’t get us far enough.”

Hayman outlined a first-90-day plan that would pair document reviews with meetings across departments and neighborhoods to identify “quick wins,” and he said the commission should set clear priorities so staff can align budget and capital plans. “The next chapter is giving [residents] reasons to spend a lifetime here,” he said.

Chapman, the other finalist, spoke to operational priorities and budgeting processes, describing a staff-led budgeting approach, multi-year capital planning and a reliance on data such as traffic counts and PASER ratings to set priorities. He referenced past experience managing major organizational transitions and said an early focus would be learning from department heads and staff: “After year one, I would want that direction, shared vision, shared goals with the commission.”

Commission debate split along differing priorities. Several commissioners backed Chapman for his city-manager experience and detailed answers about operations and budget systems. Other commissioners and multiple members of the public urged the commission to choose a local candidate who already understands Bay City’s neighborhoods; a number of speakers during public comment explicitly said they preferred Hayman because he lives locally and has longstanding community ties.

Paul Gallino, one of several public commenters, said he and others he’d spoken with preferred Hayman and praised the candidate’s local involvement. “With Rick, we have someone who spent decades of his life here,” Gallino said. Dustin Kossicker and Judy Brunner were among other residents who urged the commission to follow public sentiment.

The motion adopted by the commission instructs staff to proceed with drafting an employment agreement for Hayman and, if needed, to return to Chapman as the second-preferred candidate. The agreement process will include background checks and other pre-employment screening; the commission noted that salary and final contract terms would be negotiated subsequently, likely with additional deliberations or in closed session as needed.

The commission’s action concludes the public interview phase of the search; next steps include drafting and negotiating the employment agreement and returning to the commission for final contract approval.