The city of Aspen will seek an internal candidate for a new city manager, pivoting from the national search process that was initially planned and was previously conducted during the city’s last city manager search.
Aspen City Council asked staff to post the city manager job listing internally during a special meeting Monday because council members believe there is already an internal candidate who is the right person for the job. The city was in the middle of identifying an executive recruitment firm from a pool of respondents to a request for proposal to conduct a national search.
The council did not identify the internal candidate by name.
The council’s decision to bypass a headhunter in favor of an internal search comes while Pete Strecker, the city’s finance director, works as its interim city manager. The city council appointed him to the post in March following Sara Ott’s resignation as city manager in late February. The city promoted Ott from assistant city manager to city manager in September 2019.
Strecker could not immediately be reached after the meeting.
“Several months have gone by since the prior council opted to initiate the RFP process, and this council may want to re-evaluate whether the use of a professional recruitment firm is the right direction for the city or whether an internal process is more desirable, as there may be highly qualified internal candidates,” said Councilman John Doyle during the special meeting Monday. He was reading from a memo sent to the city council by the city attorney’s office.
The RFP closed on April 11 and received 34 responses, according to a May 13 memo to the city council. City staff identified six finalists and in May, the council appointed Doyle and Sam Rose to a search committee responsible for choosing a recruitment firm for a national search.
A recruitment firm would be responsible for preparing the recruitment process, overseeing the search process, scheduling and managing interviews, assisting in negotiating total compensation packages for finalists and more. The city expected to spend between $28,000 and $50,000 to hire a recruitment firm.
An internal candidate could benefit the city as it works through several major projects and developments, Rose said. The city is in the middle of a land-use review for the Armory Hall redevelopment project and the 277-unit Lumberyard affordable housing project, the city’s largest-ever single affordable housing development.
“We believe we potentially have one (candidate) internally that would be perfect for this position, would understand some of the big projects we have going on, like the Armory, the entrance (to Aspen), the Lumberyard and would help move the city of Aspen forward in the best possible light,” Rose said.
The previous city council decided to conduct a national search for a new city manager during a March 11 meeting. The decision was made two weeks after the previous city manager, Sara Ott’s, last day on Feb. 28. Ott was chosen to helm the city after a monthslong national search. The application at the time garnered 64 applicants.
The city council appointed Strecker as interim city manager during a March 17 work session. Deputy city managers Diane Foster and Tyler Christoff declined the interim role.
Mayor Rachel Richards and Councilman Bill Guth did not attend the special meeting Monday; however, in a statement read by Doyle, Richards said an internal search would be beneficial before moving forward with a recruitment firm.
“We have a very professional and talented, experienced staff,” she wrote. “Doing an internal search first before proceeding with a headhunter seems the best option for us. Any search firm would deserve to know if there are any potential internal applicants as they go to interview and solicit others to apply.”
The city will post an internal listing for the position and keep it open for 30 days. An internal listing is required by state statute, regardless of whether a potential candidate has been identified.
