Colorado Springs will begin the process of selecting a replacement for current City Manager George Fellows by advertising the position with organizations for municipal officials in early February. Hundreds of applications are expected.
A successor to Fellows is expected on the job no later than July 1.
Fellows recently announced that he will leave his post of 18 years on June 30 and will take vacation time until retirement in September. He will turn 65 in September.
Fellows, Mayor Bob Isaac and Personnel Director Dick Zickefoose developed a procedure that would have created a council committee of three—two incumbents and one newly elected in April—to have much of the power for a selection.
The committee was to have been appointed after April's election of four council members. It would have screened applications and interviewed four to six of the best candidates. The entire council would then have interviewed only two or three finalists before making a selection.
Monday the City Council agreed that the screening committee will instead recommend up to 20 names to the full council. The council would then decide how many people to interview. The entire council would then interview all finalists.
The broader responsibility for the entire council was recommended by members Kathy Loo, Buster Cogswell, Dave Sarton and Mary Vieth. All others agreed. Thus, the full council will be more involved in selecting a new city manager than city administrators originally recommended.
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Cogswell said that each member should be able to screen all résumés. He also contended that any council member should be able to recommend any applicant for an interview.
Cogswell was quoted: "Every council member owes that responsibility to the electorate."
Councilman Bill Snyder asked Zickefoose what the salary range for a city manager would be. Zickefoose said that the range would be advertised with a note that the normal appointment would be at the midpoint of the range. The range for this year's city manager is $66,336 to $99,504 a year.
Fellows' current salary is $81,013.
Snyder said that he did not want Fellows' current salary to be advertised. He was quoted as saying: "That could cause problems." Councilman Frank Parisi agreed that it could cause problems.
The council agreed Monday that the screening committee would select the best candidates between April 15 and 30. It would then recommend that group to the council. The council would do interviewing May 1–15 and would make an offer by May 15 to its choice.
The person who accepts the job would be expected to report for work between June 15 and July 1.
The City Charter gives the city manager final responsibility for nearly all administrative matters. These include running the large city-owned utilities and general city departments. The person also has hiring and firing authority over nearly all the city's 3,200 employees.
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Exercise 20.5
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2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education