City Manager interviews set to begin

GONZALES — The city of Gonzales is scheduled to begin interviews with finalist applicants for City Manager on Dec. 19.

Charles Windwehen, interim city manager, said the city received 33 applications by the Nov. 30 deadline. Those applications have been carefully considered and reduced to five semifinalists.

Windwehen said the city has received applications from all around Texas as well as from other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and beyond. The furthest applicant sent in an application from Pennsylvania. The closest applicant is an internal candidate, Tim Crow, Gonzales Police Chief.

Windwehen said near or far, "management principals are portable." The city is looking for a city manager who has experience as a city manager, assistant city manager, or department head – with a broad range of responsibilities – from a city as large as Gonzales or larger.

Out of the top five candidates, two are stand-out candidates – on paper – and look better than the other three, Windwehen said, but the city still has to conduct extensive background research, including criminal, credit and social media searches.

While the city had initially set out to seek out a city manager without using a consulting firm, they did use a consultant website to advertise, spending $39 for the service. Other than that outside ad Windwehen has managed the search solely with the help of Texas Municipal League, saving the city at least $25,000.

The city is following a search timeline: On Dec. 13 will be a meeting to discuss background checks and produce a final list of applicants to be interviewed; On Dec. 14 Windwehen will deliver the names of the finalists to Gonzales City Council and will notify finalists of their selection and interview dates; On Dec. 18 the city is expected to post notice of a special council meeting – or meetings – scheduled for Dec. 21 and possibly Dec. 22; On Dec. 19 the interviews will be conducted and may continue into the next day. Depending on interview times, a couple of days will be used for negotiations, before the council meets; On Dec 21 council will meet for an executive session to discuss hiring a city manager.

The projected start date for the chosen applicant is between January 10, 2017 and February 1, 2017.