Medicine Hat mayor Linnsie Clark at a special open council meeting on Monday (Tiffany Goodwein/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Hiring permanent city manager will take time, says Mayor Clark

Jun 13, 2022 | 7:00 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB- It’s been roughly six months since a permanent city manager has sat around the horseshoe at council chambers, and the city’s mayor says it could be some time before that position is officially filled.

In terms of finding a city manager Mayor Linnsie Clark says it all comes down to finding the right candidate, and that’s why council doesn’t necessarily want to put a timeline on filling the position.

“We want to make sure we get the right person in the city manager role, and so we don’t want to rush it,” she said.

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Mayor Clark confirmed an external recruitment agency is being used to find the new city manager. When asked about the cost, Clark said those figures will likely come out during the next budget presentation. But she believes the expense will be well worth it in the long run.

“We felt with a role of that nature, it was value for money to get an external search firm that specializes in those kind of executive roles,” she said.

The city manager role isn’t the only position that is taking a long time to fill. The newly created chief of staff position which was announced in December, also just had their job opening posted this month. When questioned about the delay Mayor Clark said:

“That’s an interesting question I don’t have an answer for you. I am very excited that it is posted, and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of candidates we get there. I’m also extremely excited for the added capacity that is going to give council in so many ways and hopefully that will be a position we can fill relatively quickly,” she said.

A special open council meeting was held on Monday to appoint a new interim city manager. No name was announced, and council agreed to hold off on the announcement until staff is informed tomorrow.

“We felt as a council that it is really important for city staff to be well informed on who the interim city manager was going to be before it was announced publically. That was just the most respectful approach we felt,” Mayor Clark said.

The search for another interim city manager comes on the heels of the contract expiration of Merete Heggulund. The former CAO came out of retirement in March to help the city after former city manager Bob Nicolay announced his retirement in January.