The City Council is looking for residents to serve on a citizens screening committee for the city manager search process.
Monday night, the council voted to establish a selection committee of councilors who will select four residents to serve on the screening committee. In addition, Council President Leo Robinson selected Eugene O’Flaherty to serve as the chair and fifth member of the committee.
The screening committee will work with the UMass Boston-based Collins Center to help select a new City Manager to replace Thomas Ambrosino.
The screening committee will interview candidates and present several finalists to the City Council for final interviews and the council’s selection of a new city manager.
Councilors Calvin Brown, Damali Vidot, Todd Taylor, Tanairi Garcia, and Brian Hatleberg will serve on the selection committee that will select the residents for the screening committee. That committee is expected to hold its first meeting on Monday night.
“This is the next step in the city manager selection process,” said Hatleberg. “What we need to do is we need to put together a number of residents who are going to screen the applicants with us. It’s very important to put together a slate of people that all the council can get behind.”
Hatleberg said he hopes the council committee can move forward as quickly as possible.
“If we are able to, I would like to bring a slate of names to the council at our next council meeting,” he said. “What that means is if you have someone you would like to see on the (screening) committee, let’s get the names in. If a member of the public is interested in serving on the committee, raise your hand and let us know.”
Anyone who is interested or knows someone interested in serving on the screening committee should email the council, Hatleberg said.
“The president of this body did an incredible job in selecting a very diverse group of colleagues who will be deciding who the members of the screening committee are,” said District 5 Councilor Judith Garcia at a public input session on the city manager selection process on Tuesday night.
Vidot noted that the screening committee and the public input sessions are all part of a process that will come together to help select the best candidate for the position.
Vidot also noted that the Collins Center will be meeting with each councilor individually to get input on what the councilors think are the important qualities for a new city manager.
That information will be used as a guideline for the members of the screening committee to use while interviewing candidates, she added.