Article published Nov 29, 2007

City manager pick pushed to January

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Great Falls city commissioners won't select a new city manager until January at the earliest.

City Manager John Lawton is retiring by year end. Applicants hoping to succeed him will be interviewed by the commission in Great Falls on Jan. 12, Assistant City Manager Cheryl Patton said Wednesday.

That means a newly constituted City Commission, featuring recently elected members Bill Bronson and Mary Jolley, will get to decide who the new manager will be.

Outgoing Commissioners Sandy Hinz and Diane Jovick-Kuntz will play advisory roles. They are invited to sit in on interviews with the finalists but won't be allowed to vote.

City commissioners have winnowed a list of about 50 applicants down to six. Patton said consultant Jerry Oldani will be checking candidates' references pending the interviews.

The candidates will come to Great Falls for meetings and interviews Jan. 11 and 12, Patton said. She said the prospective managers will meet with city staff, hear presentations from department managers and attend a reception in the evening Jan. 11.

Interviews with the finalists, whose names will be released, are set for Jan. 12 she said. Patton said she didn't think any former Great Falls city managers applied for the position.

She said the exact number of finalists to be interviewed is not yet known.

Lawton has served in the position since 1990.

"It's just time," Lawton said in June when he announced his retirement plans.