The Chelsea City Council unanimously directed Interim Acting City Manager Adrianna Jordan and City Attorney Mariah Fink to contact candidate Elke Doom to begin negotiating a contract pending a background check for the interim city manager position at its meeting on May 15.
In addition, the City Council also voted unanimously to reengage Walsh Municipal Services to assist in finding a permanent city manager. This service will be performed at no additional charge due to a clause in the contract that stipulates if a candidate resigns before a year is up, the firm will assist the municipality in finding a new manager.
The City Council meets again on May 22, and it’s expected that further discussion on this position will take place.
By way of a timeline on this process, at a special meeting on April 24, City Council directed staff to post a call for applications for the interim city manager position following the resignation of Roy Atkinson on April 21.
Seven candidates applied for the position and the City Council chose three candidates to interview – Blaine Wing, Troy Bell, and Elke Doom.
Wing took another position, and was replaced by the next highest vote getter – Wayne O’Neal.
All three interviewed on May 1 and on the first vote, there was a tie between Bell and Doom. The vote was recalculated via ranked choice voting procedures by eliminating the lowest ranking candidate and Bell came out on top.
The City Council directed Jordan and Fink to begin negotiations with Bell pending a background check with the goal of having an interim in place with a target start date of May 15.
At the May 15 meeting, following the background check, the City Council withdrew the offer to Bell. (Details of the information in the background check were not disclosed to maintain the confidentiality of the candidate.)
In the meantime, it’s expected that Jordan will be compensated for her additional duties until an interim city manager is hired since the city council has gone beyond the May 15 proposed timeline.
In other business, the City Council approved an about $51,000 budgeted expensive to have the water tower inspected and repairs made by Dixon Engineering.
On May 22 at 6 p.m., there will be a public hearing for both the budget and utility rates.
If you would like to listen to the meeting, please go to the city’s website.
