You'll get a chance to check out the three finalists for Oak Ridge city manager

The Oak Ridge City Council has selected three people - a woman from Texas, a man from Wisconsin and a man from North Carolina - as finalists for the city manager job.

The council narrowed its list of candidates from six to three during a special meeting on Wednesday night at the Municipal Building. The three were selected during one round of voting.

They are:

• Casey Bradley, Baraboo, Wisconsin. He is the city administrator for Baraboo.

• Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides, Duncanville, Texas. She was most recently city manager in Duncanville, Texas.

• Randall W. "Randy" Hemann, Mooresville, North Carolina. He is the manager for Mooresville.

Ferrell-Benevides and Bradley received votes from all seven council members. Hemann was chosen by six council members with Julius Suchy, the manager for Ada Township in Ada, Michigan, receiving one of council member Ellen Smith's three votes.

The council informally agreed to limit the finalists to three of the six at the start of the meeting. There was later discussion and a failed vote to name four finalists since most on council indicated that Suchy would be close to being added to their finalist list if he had more experience. Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dodson made a motion to have four finalists, which was seconded by member Charlie Hensley. However, the vote failed with the five other members of council voting against it.

"How do you play if you don't get in the game," Hensley said, likening it to when he taught boys to play baseball and they needed at-bats to learn how to hit well.

But council member Sean Gleason said they needed to stay with the decision to decide on three, reminding the other members that in 16 days they'd be picking only one to offer the city manager's job.

The three candidates will travel to Oak Ridge on Aug. 15, according to the preliminary plan outlined by Interim City Manager Jack Suggs. A private reception with city staff could be scheduled for later that day, he said. Council members could interview each of the three one-on-one on Aug. 16 and 17, with time set aside for a tour of the city, meeting with some leaders of the city and a public forum on the night of Aug. 16, led by a representative or representatives of GovHR, the executive search firm the council hired to lead the city manager search. More specific information will be publicized in the near future.

The council expects to select its top pick and offer the job to that person on Aug. 18. That public meeting is set for 4 p.m. at the Municipal Building

Below are summaries of each candidate's background, previously published in The Oak Ridger, based upon information supplied by GovHR USA.

Bradley is the city administrator for Baraboo, Wisconsin, population 12,000. Prior to this position, which he's held since 2020, he worked as county manager/administrative coordinator for Adams County, Wisconsin, population 21,000. Previous roles include financial positions for counties in Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota.

Ferrell-Benavides has worked as a city manager in several cities: 2021-2023 in Duncanville, Texas, population 41,000; 2017-2021 in Petersburg, Virginia, population 33,500; 2015-2017, city manager, and 2014-2015, deputy city manager in Glenn Heights, Texas, population 17,000. The Duncanville city council fired her by a 4-3 vote earlier this year.

GovHR President Heidi Voorhees has said it's not uncommon for city managers to be terminated and that it's often the result of a changing political climate.

Prior to the city manager jobs, Ferrell-Benavides held positions in higher government for the district of Washington, D.C. She also served as assistant city/county administrator in Los Alamos, New Mexico, another city like Oak Ridge where the U.S. Department of Energy is a major employer.

Hemann is the manager of Mooresville, North Carolina, population 51,500. He previously served as assistant city manager of High Point, North Carolina, population 114,000, and city manager of Oxford, North Carolina, population 9,000. He's held other positions in government in North Carolina.

Mark Watson served as city manager for 12 years prior to retiring in May.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

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This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge Council picks 3 finalists for city manager