Monroe details search process, timeline for hiring next city manager

The city of Monroe is beginning the process to hire its next city manager.

Current city manager Vince Pastue announced earlier this year his intention to retire by the end of April 2023. He has been Monroe’s city manager since July 2016. He earlier expressed his desire to be involved in the search for his replacement, which has been warmly welcomed by the city council.

"One thing that we have this time that we did not previously (in 2016) is that the city manager is here and obviously knows the community and what we're about as a council," Mayor Robert Clark said. "He'll assist in guiding that through, which I think is a plus.

"We have somebody that's here that wants to see that what we've all done as a council over a decade or so continues on."

On Monday, the council heard a presentation by Julie Everly, Monroe's director of human resources, on the four-step process that was established to identify the best candidates and the expected timeline to make a hire.

"Perhaps one of the biggest responsibilities that you have as council ... is to hire the CEO or the city manager for the city of Monroe," Everly said. "It's a very important opportunity and process."

Everly said that since the search process for a new city manager can typically take about 120 days, the wheels already need to be in motion with the first phase set to start as soon as possible. That first step includes building a pool of candidates that the council can begin to evaluate.

Phase Two, which should be completed by late February or early March, involves interviewing candidates, narrowing a list of finalists, and then making a choice for one. A conditional offer of employment would be extended in Phase Three along with an extensive background investigation and negotiation on a contract.

Phase Four would be the final step in the process, completed to coincide with Pastue's exit from the role. It would involved the council's final approval of the employment agreement, bringing the new manager on board, and off-boarding for the outgoing manager.

Clark said that the process needs to remain flexible.

"As we go through this process and you get to the conclusion, if it's not a complete consensus and you're not sure, you're better off to start again," he said. "It's a commitment of years, not months. ... You really have to be methodical as you go through this and think about the candidates and what they bring."

Clark also emphasized that that the council can expect interest in the position from candidates all over the country. Some councilmembers expressed a preference for candidates to have a knowledge of the area.

"I think familiarity with Monroe is very helpful, so somebody that's within the region here I think is definitely a must," Councilman Brian Lamour said. "Somebody that's willing to get their hands dirty. I'd like them to be able to handle the smallest job to the largest. ... We want somebody that's going to be hands on."

Everly compared the process to "mining for the gold" and that the council should establish which qualities they believe are most important in the city's next manager.

"It is likely that there will be something in our profile that will still be a growing point for any and every candidate that we have," Everly said. "So, when it comes to your finalists, it certainly is not that they're not all highly qualified, great candidates, but then it becomes a real question to discern and assess who is the best fit."

The entire council will be involved in interviewing candidates when the times comes. Candidate names will not be made public until interviews are arranged.

The other concern for the council was the competition from nearby communities. Birmingham, Northville and Sandusky were three municipalities with open city manager positions that were frequently mentioned at Monday's work session.

Dundee also is in the process of hiring a new village manager, but city attorney Matthew D. Budds said Dundee already has made a formal offer to one of its finalists and therefore is not competing on the same timeline as Monroe. Budds also provides legal services to Dundee, he said.

"A good candidate is going to do their homework," Everly said. "They're going to look at the history, they're going to pull up as much information about current and past city manager contracts as possible. ... Council, especially in competitive times like we're in now, may need to keep an extra open mind when it comes to what might be put on the table by a candidate when the candidate is negotiating his or her contract."

Clark cautioned that the competitive market for a new manager could result in the city looking at candidates with less experience than Pastue currently brings to the role but with higher salary demands. But that doesn't mean the city would compromise on the traits it is looking for in a new manager, he said.

"You have to balance the two," Clark said. "That's just the market that's out there and what the expectation will be. So you could potentially pay more and get less, but the less could still meet those items that (we're looking for)."

He later added: "Do they have all the traits we're looking for? Have they done their homework to understand what Monroe is? And do they, in the process of the interview, besides the expertise they're going to provide us for why they should be the selection, how does that expertise tie to the city of Monroe? That's what I'd be looking for. That they understand and they've done their homework to know many aspects of what our city is about."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe details search process, timeline for hiring next city manager