Seemingly headed for interviews with the top three candidates later this month, the Greeneville City Council has now put an official pause on the search for a new City Manager.
Early during Tuesday’s City Council meeting Mayor Cal Doty told board members he believes the town needs to broaden their search.
MAYOR CAL DOTY AND TIM TEAGUE
After brief explanation council members voted to add the mayors suggestion to the end of the meeting agenda. About an hour later in what was already a busy agenda, the topic returned to the search.
MAYOR DOTY
Doty says his change of mind came after last Friday’s called meeting in which Tracy Solomon suggested the town not get in a hurry and settle.
TRACY SOLOMON FRIDAY COMMENTS
PUBLIC COMMENT
During the public comment period of the meeting on Friday, March 13th, Tracy Solomon addressed City Council about the search process.
Solomon – “I want to focus on an important issue before the council, in regards to the search you guys are undertaking. To me, it’s not about who’s local, who interviews well, who’s the most familiar. This is about the town or whether the town is prepared to put the right person in the most important administrative job in Greeneville. As CEO at TEVET, I’ve learned that when you hire for critical leadership roles, you hire people with a proven track record of relevant success. You do not hire based on comfort, convenience, or the hope that someone grows into the job. You hire people who already know what success looks like because they have done it before. That’s my concern here. I think it’s a big difference between being good in a departmental role and being ready to lead an entire town. The job requires proven executive leadership, sound judgment, and experience managing complex issues across organizations. I think we’ve all seen what happens when the wrong person is in the role, so I would urge this council to take a hard honest look at the current field, and if that group does not include someone with the proven track record this job demands, then do not force the decision. Go back to the market, find that person. There is no shame in extending a search. That would be settling.”
Tuesday, Mayor Doty said he had also heard from others concerned over the search process.
As for the Mayor’s unexpected change of mind, council member Ginny Kidwell voiced concerns with the announcement.
GINNY KIDWELL
Kidwell said she didn’t like to be blindsided but added she does have a problem with the process and is open to considering other options.
Tim Ward said the pause was needed and he didn’t believe anyone was happy with the search. He went on to say “it may cost us some time and possibly some money.”
TIM WARD
Teague argued “I think we have qualified people, but if you want to do this, pause right now on the second round of interviews, put the brakes on now and see what happens.”
TIM TEAGUE
Matt Hensley added “I think we need to truly start over. It does not seem wise to hold onto the three finalists.
MATT HENSLEY
Teague agreed with him but argued that MTAS is suppose to be the expert in hiring city managers. The Mayor said that only two of the seven who were interviewed had City Manager experience.
Pete Auger with MTAS has been helping coordinate the search to date.
The March 28th interviews will not happen and no set plans are in place at this time on the next step in the search. The next scheduled meeting of the City Council is April 7th.
