If the City Council has agreed on who the next city manager should be, they’re keeping a lid on it until their man or woman is locked down.
After spending three hours behind closed doors grilling Mary Jacobs, assistant Sierra Vista city manager, and Cochise County Administrator Michael Ortega on Wednesday, the council’s only public action was to direct City Attorney Mike Rankin to “proceed as discussed” in the closed meeting.
While council members offered no details about that private discussion, in the past that has typically meant negotiating a contract with the first choice before any announcement. They gave no indication when the selection could be finalized.
Jacobs, 51, and Ortega, 53, both said their interviews went well and they appreciated the opportunity to interact with city leaders and the public. Both were expecting to know more today.
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Earlier Wednesday, a citizens advisory committee recommended that the council hire Jacobs.
The committee was divided 6-5 in its support for Jacobs over Ortega.
The City Council selected the two finalists from a pool that started out with 48 applicants — the city initially said 44, but revised the figure.
A consultant reviewed all of the applicants and sent the 12 it considered most qualified to the mayor and council for consideration. The council invited six people for interviews, and two of them declined.
The two finalists completed two days of interviews and public meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. The council voted to direct the city manager to take the next steps in the hiring process, but did not say in public whether they a job offer had been made, or to whom.
The citizens committee spent an hour interviewing each finalist Wednesday morning.
They are both strong candidates with similar qualifications, said committee member Joan Lionetti.
They also had the same weakness, identified by committee member Kelly Fryer as “a startling lack of creative solutions.”
“The things they said seemed sort of textbook,” she said.
Ultimately, the committee said, either candidate would make a good manager, but Jacobs’ enthusiasm was especially attractive, as were her vision and her commitment to good communication and community outreach.
Committee member Mark Homan said Jacobs was supportive of local businesses and the creative class in her economic development plan. She was also stronger in her description of city staff accountability, he said.
Committee member Margarita Bernal said Ortega has a better grasp of the city’s budget problems and could “hit the ground running.” Some members preferred his management style.
The committee members hadn’t received the résumés prior to the meeting, and several thought they’d be choosing from among more than two candidates. At least half of the committee members said they were disappointed in the lack of transparency in the selection process.
