The City and Borough of Juneau has begun its search for a new city manager after outgoing manager Rorie Watt announced in April he would depart from his position at the end of September.
[Juneau city manager to resign this fall]
Monday afternoon, the Assembly City Manager Recruitment Committee met for the first time to discuss recruitment for the position outlining a plan to have it filled a few weeks before Watt’s last day. That timeline would allow some overlap between the new city manager’s first day on the job and Watt’s departure.
During the meeting, the committee unanimously agreed to use a blended search effort, which means the city will conduct an in-house recruitment effort but keep the door open for recruiters to provide candidates as well.
According to Assembly and committee member Christine Woll, the city is likely to post the position in the next two weeks on various recruitment platforms and advertise it nationally for 30 days.
City and Borough of Juneau Assembly member Christine Woll holds the agenda for the Assembly City Manager Recruitment Committee Monday afternoon. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Once that 30-day period is complete, city Human Resources and Risk Management Director Dallas Hargrave will conduct an initial screening of the candidates before selecting and presenting six to 10 semifinalists to the committee for further consideration and a video conference interview.
The committee will then select the top 2-4 candidate finalists who will be brought on for a site visit before a final selection vote will be conducted by the Assembly, anticipated in late August.
Assembly and committee member Wade Bryson expressed his desire to see the city select someone for the position that has municipal and general knowledge of Southeast Alaska and of the capital city.
“We need somebody who has at least regional understanding,” he said, continuing. “I want somebody that really understands Southeast Alaska.”
Mayor Beth Weldon agreed and said she thinks there are already at least two people in Juneau that could be candidates, along with several regionally and statewide that would be “eager and willing” to fill the role. Weldon did not identify these potential candidates during the meeting.
The committee is expected to meet again on May 30 to further discuss the recruitment effort.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807.
