Ogden council reviews interview process, tie-break rules before candidate interviews

The chair opened the July 21 Ogden City Council work session and said the meeting would review procedures for interviewing candidates for an unspecified vacancy.

Glenn outlined the process: "As you all know, we had 19, qualified applicants, and so we will interview all of them," he said, adding that the council would call two names at a time, each candidate would have four minutes to speak, and an initial vote would follow the interview round. He said names would be drawn from a bowl "by Leanne" during the sequence.

The council emphasized fairness. The chair cautioned members and audience attendees against visible or vocal campaigning for any applicant, saying it was important "we don't campaign for any particular person" to keep a level playing field. Council members agreed to post the interview questions in chambers at 4:50 p.m. so candidates could review them simultaneously.

Glenn described several tie-breaking scenarios set out in the council resolution, including steps for when one candidate receives the most votes but not a majority, and procedures for multi-way ties. He said the resolution includes contingency steps up to and including a coin flip if needed to reduce the field to finalists.

Before adjourning the work session, Glenn offered name-tracking score sheets for council members to follow interview order. The chair then closed the work session so members could have dinner and proceed to interviews later that evening.

The council did not take a formal recorded vote during the work session; it adjourned the preparatory meeting to begin interviews.