Staunton City Council set to interview and discuss city manager candidates. Here's what we know.
STAUNTON — Staunton City Council is set to interview four candidates for the city manager position currently filled by interim city manager Leslie Beauregard on Wednesday afternoon during a special-called meeting in a closed session.
The special-called meeting will begin at 12:45 p.m. and last into the evening. The interviews will all take place during a closed session, and the publicly accessible parts of the meeting will only be available in-person.
The position became available when former city manger Steve Rosenberg was forced to resign by the council back in January. The city contracted the firm Baker Tilly to assist with the search, and had 76 applicants for the position. Of those that applied, only four were selected for this round of interviews.
More:Staunton Council calls impromptu closed session, moving on from city manager: Reports
The News Leader obtained demographic data of the applicant pool through the city from Baker Tilly. Here's how they broke down:
Gender Identity
Male: 80.3%
Female: 17.1%
Did not answer: 2.6%
Race
White: 75.0%
Black: 11.8%
Hispanic or Latino: 3.9%
Asian: 3.9%
Two or more races: 2.6%
Did not answer: 2.6%
The city manager in Staunton takes on various administrative and executive duties in local government, and is responsible for the "efficient administration of all affairs of the city," per the city's charter. The position also serves at the will of city council, and is tasked with appointing individuals to filling certain positions in local government as well. However, those appointments are subject to the approval of the council.
The city manager form of government can be traced back to 1908 right here in Staunton, when Charles Ashburner was first hired to fill the position. City council is tasked with appointing a city manager, according to the city's charter, "without regard to his political belief and solely upon the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications."
The inclusion of the word "his" is notable, if only because Beauregard was the first woman to serve as city manager for the city. It's believed that until Beauregard, only white men have ever served as city manager in Staunton.
More:All white men: A woman has never been city manager in Staunton, where that American job began
—Akhil Ganesh is the Government Reporter at The News Leader. You can contact him at aganesh@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @akhildoesthings.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton City Council set to interview city manager candidates
