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Commissioners debate experience and reporting line for assistant city manager
Summary
Commissioners debated whether to require three to five years or five years of experience and discussed phrasing to ensure the assistant city manager reports through the city manager rather than receiving direct operational directives from the commission.
Commissioners spent substantial time refining the assistant city manager job description, focusing on minimum experience and the proper reporting relationship. One commissioner recommended listing "3 to 5" years of relevant experience so that applicants from different jurisdictions and backgrounds would not be excluded, saying, "I think you could put 3 to 5."
Members also stressed that the job description should make clear how the position fits into the city's chain of command. A commissioner argued that duties should be framed "as directed by the commission and in conjunction with the city manager" but that day-to-day direction should flow through the city manager to avoid conflicting supervision. The group agreed to wording that ties the role to the normal hierarchy rather than placing the employee in a position to take operational direction directly from the commission.
The commission asked staff to reflect the agreed language in the posting before distribution; those edits were to be incorporated by staff and circulated to the chair for final review.
