Stories indexed with the term ‘interview’

At its July 18, 2011 regular meeting, the Ann Arbor city council chose unanimously to offer Steve Powers the job of city administrator. The decision for Powers over another finalist, Ellie Oppenheim, came after two rounds of interviews on July 12-13, including a televised session on Wednesday morning. [Previous Chronicle coverage: "Search Concluding for Ann Arbor City Admin"] The council moved the item to the start of its agenda on Monday evening and deliberated briefly on the choice.

Powers currently serves as county administrator of Marquette County, Mich. – a position he’s held since 1996. Oppenheim most recently served as CEO of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.

The resolution approved by the city council on Monday specifies that the appointment of Powers is contingent on signing a contract. The council’s city administrator search committee had recommended targeting recruitment of a city administrator with a base salary in the $145,000-$150,000 range. Negotiations on the council’s side will be handled by members of the search committee: Marcia Higgins (Ward 4), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) and mayor John Hieftje. [Full Story]

At its April 19, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted unanimously to appoint Tom Crawford as interim city administrator. Crawford currently serves as the city’s chief financial officer. He will begin service on April 28.

The job for permanent city administrator will now be posted and advertised. Affion Public will be contracted to assist the city’s human resources department with the search – for a flat fee of $18,000 plus addition travel expenses expected to total less than $25,000. The targeted salary range for recruitment will be $145,000-$150,000.

Affion’s work will begin with a visit to Ann Arbor in the first week of May to meet with councilmembers, city employees, and members of the public to get a clearer idea of the intangible qualities that are desired in an applicant. An ideal timeline would include closing the application window after 30 days, using late May and June to winnow the field and interview candidates, with an offer to be made in early July. On the ideal timeline, the new administrator would start work in early August.

Although the city’s public services area administrator Sue McCormick had been widely assumed to be a natural choice for interim, a condition on the interim appointment was that the person would not be a candidate for the permanent job. [Previous Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Fills City Administrator Job"]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]