After meeting with one candidate in a closed-door session last week, the Wrangell Borough Assembly has decided to put the city manager position back out for advertisement.
In the position since 2013, present manager Jeff Jabusch announced last September his plans to retire on March 31. Prior to that, he spent the better four decades as the city finance director.
From a pool of 25 candidates a selection committee made up of Mayor David Jack, city staff and some Assembly members winnowed the field to four candidates. Of these, two dropped out from consideration last month prior to an in-person interview set for February 14. One further candidate, Bradley Hanson from Iowa, informed the city he had changed his mind the weekend before, leaving former Bethel city manager Ann Capela as the sole candidate.
After arriving, she met with the full Assembly in a closed executive session to answer questions about past experience and her potential employment. Though at first leaning toward having a public meet-and-greet with the candidates, as the hospital had done during its CEO search in August 2015, at its last meeting the Assembly opted instead to keep the interviews more private. The reasoning arrived at during the discussion was that a meeting with the wider public might be overwhelming for candidates.
“What they decided is to put it back out,” city clerk Kim Lane explained of last Tuesday’s interview.
With a close date of March 15 in mind, the city will advertise the impending vacancy again through local radio and newspaper outlets, Alaska Municipal League, and the International City/County Management Association.
The latter two organizations have a wide reach across the state and country, respectively, and the majority of resumes that previously were submitted came through ICMA. To expedite the search process, Jabusch and Lane will filter through resumes during the second round of searching before submitting them to the Assembly for review.
Lane said they would be taking into account applicants’ experience, knowledge and ability to perform when reviewing resumes.
“Those are the things I look for,” she explained. “This is a really important job.”
The Assembly may hold a special meeting once a pool of suitable candidates are available, deciding from there. Despite the setback, Jabusch’s planned-for retirement date remains unchanged. If the hunt for a new manager goes on into April, Lane explained an arrangement for the interim would still need to be decided on.
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