The Seward City Council plans to interview all five interested applicants in its search for a new city manager — its third search in four years. But it might open the application for the seat back up after some city council members said they were dissatisfied with their options.
Seward has been on the hunt for a new manager since Janette Bower decided to depart the job for the Soldotna city manager position in April. The city decided to start the search in-house and received five applicants — three from in-state, and two from Outside.
The Seward City Council decided during a special meeting last night to request interviews from all the applicants, rather than narrowing the pool down first. The candidates will have the option to be interviewed in person or over Zoom, but those who want to travel to appear in person will need to do so at their own expense, the council agreed.
The interviews will be half an hour each, and every candidate will receive the same questions. A special committee will convene this week to write the questions.
The council was unable to discuss the specifics of candidates in a public meeting last night, but some members alluded to their dissatisfaction with the level of experience represented among the current slate of applicants.
While those members advocated for extending the application deadline another 30 days, the council settled on interviewing all current candidates first, before potentially beginning another nationwide search. Unlike in previous searches, Seward chose not to use recruiting service GovHR, but may consider the $30,000 contract if dissatisfied with the interviews, the council said.
Interviews will start at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 28, and are open to the public.
