by SEAN KIMMONS
The Kyle City Council will set up a headhunter committee next month to search for a new city manager.
A City Manager Search Committee, to be comprised of two councilmembers, four Kyle registered voters and three city staff members, one of those in a non-managerial role, will make up the posse. The city attorney will serve as a consultant to the committee, if needed.
The city council last week unanimously approved the formation of the committee following the May 8 elections, which will put two new Kyle councilmembers on the dais.
“This will be a new process to all councilmembers and to most of our staff, so I want us to take our time,” said Mayor Lucy Johnson, who first mentioned the committee idea.
With the committee, the council hopes to avoid fees by hiring a third party consultant to gather applicants.
Councilmember David Wilson noted that Kyle is well positioned to easily attract applicants, as the city is seeing increasing sales tax revenue and ongoing development, even as many other communities continue to struggle with the economy.
“There are so many people that would love the position that we have,” he said. “I know headhunter firms are good but I’m not sure that we have to undergo that extent.”
Johnson also stressed the importance of having citizens on the committee. One of the citizens could be outgoing council members Michelle Lopez or David Salazar, she said.
“Citizen input would be something that I’d definitely be okay with,” she said.
On April 13, the city council unanimously selected James Earp, the assistant city manager, as interim city manager after it honored former city manager Tom Mattis’ resignation at the price of $200,000 to $250,000 in termination pay.
Earp, who has been the assistant city manager since September 2006, is receiving a $3,000 monthly stipend on top of his current pay while the search continues.
Earp said he expects that it could take the city six to nine months to find a city manager, unless they hire an internal applicant. He is still unsure if he will apply for the job.
“I’m going to have to weigh my options,” he said previously. “I’d be interested, excited and honored to be able to serve but we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”
