An anticipated three month long process by Sumter Local Government Consulting for a new City Manager of the Town of Greeneville is officially underway.
As one of the early steps in finding potential candidates for the job, company President Warren Hutmacher met with department heads Monday afternoon to discuss plans and hear their thoughts as it pertains to want is needed in the position.
DEPARTMENT HEADS IN ATTENDANCE
Interim City Manager Cathy Osborne, Development Services Director Andy Broyles, Public Works Director Scott Keith, Building Official Bert Seay, Fire Chief Alan Shipley, Roby Center Director Nicole Rader, Police Chief Josh Pierce, Parks and Recreation Athletic Director Tim Bowman, HR Specialist Andrew Kerr, Finance Director Lora Young, Airport Authority Director Angela Alley and Media and Marketing Specialist Christina Potts were in attendance for the meeting.
Sumter will meet individually with current council members and the two running uncontested who will be taking over vacant positions on the council.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Most notably different than the first city manager process by MTAS, names of the candidates are expected to remain confidential.
ULTIMATE DECISION UP TO CITY COUNCIL
Like MTAS, Sumter will handle the entire process leading up to their recommendation, but ultimately the decision of the new City Manager will be up to the vote of the City Council.
SEARCH PROCESS
The search process for potential candidates will be much broader than the initial search, using strategic advertising both in Tennessee and nationwide. That search will also include use of a Sumter comprised 28,000 email data base.
Upon response to a question, Hutmacher says he would hope for between fifty to seventy applications for the position and would be thrilled if fifteen to twenty of those were moved forward in the process.
BEST CITY MANAGER “FOR GREENEVILLE”
Hutmacher told the group that Sumter is “not looking for the best city manger, they are looking instead for the best city manager for Greeneville.” With that came responses from some of those in attendance that’s it’s important for the new city manager to be someone who is not a micro manager but someone who will not be afraid to be hands on when needed to assist departments in their day to day activities. It was also noted that the new person for the job understand the needs of the community up front, especially as it pertains to an explosion in population growth since the pandemic and more recently the flooding of 2024.
Having done their due diligence, Sumter is aware of the initial search process and outcome. Numerous times during the Monday meeting, support was voiced for the former City Manager with requests that the firm seeking someone who had similar qualities.
JOB EXPECTANCY
The MTAS search indicated job expectancy time for a City Manager would be five to seven years. Hutmacher believes that number is closer to three to five years.
ANOTHER FORMER CITY MANAGER IN ATTENDANCE
Hutmacher is a former City Manager himself , as is Tim Ellis , the former City Manager of Goodlettsville, Tennessee. He was also at the meeting Monday, having recently joined Sumter following his retirement from that position.
