A Special Las Cruces City Council meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 4 and will be followed by a closed meeting as the council begins its determination of who will be the next City Manager. The special meeting will be in Council Chambers in City Hall, 700 N. Main St.
The Novak Consulting Group, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been hired by the City to assist in the recruitment process of candidates for the City Manager position, which has been vacant since April 2019. The Novak Group has received 101 applications from 24 states and from outside of the U.S.
The Novak Consulting Group has developed an initial list of top candidates. Listed alphabetically, those candidates are:
- Julia Brown, former City Manager of Sunland Park, and former Doña Ana County Manager.
- David Dollahon, Assistant City Manager and Chief Operating Officer for the City of Las Cruces.
- Larry Fry, former City Manager of Clovis, N.M.
- Odis Jones, former City Manager of Hutto, Texas.
- Gregory “Greg” Martin, former Village Administrator of Los Lunas, N.M.
- James “Jim” Palenick, City Administrator of Racine, Wisconsin.
- Leonard “Len” Sossamon, former County Administrator of Hernando County, Florida.
- Verónica Soto, Neighborhood and Housing Services Director for the City of San Antonio, Texas.
- William “Bill” Studer, Interim City Manager for the City of Las Cruces, who has also served as Assistant City Manager for Administration.
- Kenneth Young, Assistant County Administrator for Loudoun County, Virginia.
Of the 101 applicants for the City Manager position, 24 said they have a bachelor’s degree, 53 have a master’s degree, and 21 have higher than a master’s degree. The applicants have an average of 13.4 years of local government experience, according to data compiled by The Novak Consulting Group.
The agenda for the March 4 special meeting includes an overview of the recruitment process to date, City Council’s finalization of logistics for interviews, and a discussion of next steps to be taken.
In the closed meeting to immediately follow, City Council will discuss limited personnel matters regarding the City Manager candidates. The City Manager is sole City employee that is hired by, and answers directly to, the City Council. The closed meeting will be in Administrative Conference Room 3608 at City Hall.
“At the Candidate Review meeting, we will review the applicant pool to determine whom to invite to participate in the interview process and finalize interview logistics,” said Jennifer Reichelt, Manager for The Novak Consulting Group.
A tentative timeline offered by The Novak Consulting Group proposes candidate interviews could be conducted March 17, 2020 and March 18, 2020. The first round of interviews will be with semifinalists who will meet with the Mayor and City Council and could include a tour of the City with key staff members. At the conclusion of the first round of interviews, the Council will determine who to invite back for a second round of interviews the following day.
Interviews both days could take place in closed session as personnel information will be discussed.
Optional candidate interview components the Council could consider include: a panel interview with the City’s leadership team; a community open house; a Meet and Greet session with City staff members; a writing sample exercise; or a presentation exercise.