Councilors change hiring process

The Portales City Council's plans to replace retiring City Manager Tom Howell at the end of next year changed after councilors met Tuesday for a workshop.

Initially councilors planned on hiring a separate position under Howell to shadow him and train for the position with his guidance.

Councilors agreed now they are looking for Howell's replacement and not a trainee because it served no purpose to hire another position that matched Howell's job requirements. Their goal is to have Howell's successor shadow him for a period of three months prior to Howell's retirement in December 2013.

"Everything that's in the job description is what's required of the city manager," Mayor Sharon King told councilors. "They need to be ready to go when Tom retires."

Portales City Councilor Leo Lovett says he wants a candidate who presents themselves as a city leader.

"We're trying to attract the next leader for Portales," Lovett said. "Are we going to attract that leader with this an 'assistant manager' title? We want a candidate that has vision."

Councilors plan to have the new city manager start Oct. 1, 2013. The search will begin June 1.

"If what we're looking for is a replacement for Tom, we need someone that hits this gentleman's caliber," Councilor Oscar Robinson said pointing to Howell.

Councilor Ronald Jackson wanted to make it clear to councilors that the new city manager would answer to the council even though he'd be working with Howell directly those first few months.

Howell reminded councilors that if they were to be dissatisfied with the new city manager's performance in the first couple of months, they are allowed to let them go being that the city manager position is an at-will position.

"You can let them go if they let you down," Howell said.

Councilor Dianne Parker stressed that in addition to experience, morals, values and character are important factors that should motivate who they hire during the interview process.

Once councilors discussed the logistics pertaining to the position, they reviewed the city manager job descriptions of Portales and other cities of similar size to modernize and update the current description they have.

Suggested changes included:

• A requirement of five years management experience and an MPA or MBA preference for education
• The candidate must be eligible for a New Mexico driver's license within 30 days.
• Grant writing experience and coordination would be preferred.

King felt the candidate should also be open to being a lobbyist for Portales.

"I think we need to strengthen that activity," King said. "We need more presence in Santa Fe. We need to be more visible up there during the legislative session."

Councilors agreed that having that position serve as a lobbyist is important but expressed their that that component of the job will require a lot of time.

"I just hate to see our city manager gone so much that the job wouldn't get done," Councilor Keith Thomas said. "I also think they need to be involved in issues throughout the state."

Councilors plan to review and discuss the proposed changes to the description at their first meeting in December.