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Search for city manager begins By PHILIP JANKOWSKI The search for a new city manager began with the city council’s decision to hire a professional firm to find possible candidates. In a special council session Monday evening, the council voted to hire Austin-based Johnson & Associates to conduct the search. The firm, headed by Chloe R. Johnson, is the same firm that selected former city manager Frank Salvato and former head of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation John Nelson. The council will pay Johnson & Associates $15,000 plus expenses for the search, which should last 90 to 120 days, according to a city official. The search will begin with national advertisements and a job posting in Johnson & Associates’ newsletter, JA Today, which has a circulation of 10,000, Johnson said. Along with the job posting, Johnson will meet with the city council to determine the most important criteria for a new city manager. Johnson will select three to five of the best applicants and present them to the council where they will undergo a two-day interview process, she said. Johnson said she likes to make sure candidates are given a thorough tour of the town to learn the “good, bad and ugly” of a city. Candidates should meet not only with the council, but also prominent community leaders who would likely have interactions with the future city manager. The council will interview each candidate. By the end of the process, council members and candidates usually are able to tell if they are a good fit for the community. “But if they’re not the right person, I’m the first to say lets go back to the drawing board,” Johnson said. Johnson said sometimes a council will not be sure of what kind of candidate it wants and an initial search could end up being a form of a learning process. In the end, it leads to the best person for the job, she said. Former city manager Frank Salvato left Taylor administration at the end of October to take the head administration spot in Bee Cave. Interim City Manager Jim Dunaway has expressed interest in the permanent spot.
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