Does the public really get to help pick Durham’s next city manager?
The finalists for Durham’s vacant city manager post will be announced Monday, April 28, according to a news release from city officials. This is exciting news for anyone who pays attention to Durham city government since it’s been a little over four months since city manager Patrick Baker announced that he was resigning. At the time, Mayor Bill Bell pledged to fill the post by the end of June 2008, the Independent Weekly reported.
Also on Monday, the city is also inviting the public and city employees to a forum to ask the finalists questions from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Here’s what annoys me a little (this is my reporter side kicking in). Why is the city choosing to release the names of the finalists on the SAME DAY as the forum? That doesn’t really give the public and employees time to Google the candidates and find out information about their backgrounds that may not be included in their resumes.
Back in 2005, when the city was looking for a city manager to replace Marcia Conner, it announced the finalists two days before the public forum, giving the public (and reporters) ample time to research the finalists before asking their questions. Here’s the article I wrote(PDF) following the ‘05 forum back when I was a reporter for the Herald-Sun.
On the bright side, I think it’s impressive that city leaders are keeping the process somewhat open to the public. Often hiring decisions like these are made with little to no input from the public, so it’s cool that Durham continues to let residents participate in the process.
That being said, does the public really get to help pick Durham’s next city manager? Not really. That’s up to the city council to decide. I guess, in theory, if the public made a big enough stink about one of the candidates that the council may bow to pressure and not pick that candidate.
Still, I wonder how much value the folks in Durham place on having a finalists forum? In 2005, about 120 people showed up. How many do you think will come Monday night?
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5 Responses to “Does the public really get to help pick Durham’s next city manager?”
The process is far from public inclusion. In fact, the process of going through candidates, at least initially, was not even handled by the city, it was outsourced to a company in Atlanta.
By caab on Apr 26, 2008
I believe hiring a company to identify and screen candidates for top administrative posts is a pretty common practice in city and county government. Sure, it probably costs more money than if someone on the city staff handled it, but it also offers some benefits. Those firms are experienced at advertising those posts to a broader audience, they can pare down a group of applicants perhaps more objectively than someone on the city staff based on the initial guidance the city or county council gives them. And more.
By Ginny on Apr 27, 2008
It’s not necessarily a common practice in North Carolina outside of the larger cities in the state. Sometimes an objective eye can be too far removed from what goes on in the organization they are weeding out applicants for, not to mention injecting their own subjective view of what is appropriate for a city when a city may better decide what is best for its own interests.
By caab on Apr 28, 2008
I see what you mean about injecting their own view into the process. It’s important that such firms have a firm understanding of the community/dynamic in which they’re picking candidates for. This is particularly itrue in a place like Durham, where the issues and community is so complex and beautifully unique.
By Ginny on Apr 28, 2008
Back when we were hiring a police chief, i thought that having a public forum was a little fluffy, because the chief reports to the manager, who is not elected.
the manager, though, reports to council, so i was a little more comfortable with the public part of the process. plus, they let the bloggers (well, me) sit with the media big boys for the press briefing part of things.
i think turnout would have been higher had neither Barack Obama nor Bruce Springsteen been within 100 miles of Durham Monday night.
as i mentioned over at my place, the news that two candidates, who are currently employed as ass’t city managers, withdrew from consideration because they didn’t want to jeopardize relations with their current employers, struck me as really stupid. Aren’t ass’t managers supposed to want to be managers? And shouldn’t cities, like professional and college sports teams, be actively touting their ability to train managers to go on to bigger and better things? It’s actually pretty rare for a city manager to be promoted from within (ask Ted Voorhees about that.) If you want to attract the best and brightest to your assistant positions, doesn’t it make sense that you’d be promoting their careers and abilities to handle the top job somewhere else after they’ve put in the time at your place?
that really disappointed me.
By barry on Apr 30, 2008