Why Modesto is staying tight-lipped on its search for new city manager
The recruitment has ended for Modesto city manager, but city leaders are not saying how many people applied for the job, their genders, or anything else about the background and experience of the applicants.
“It’s out of an abundance of caution to protect the integrity of the process,” said city spokesman Thomas Reeves after meeting with Mayor Ted Brandvold. Reeves said Brandvold is “very passionate about the process and wants to make sure it is done right.”
The Bee requested this information but not the applicants’ names.
Larry Giventer — professor emeritus in the department of political science and public administration at California State University, Stanislaus — said the public has a legitimate interest in knowing how many people applied for the job as well as other information that does not reveal the identities of the applicants.
“I think the public should know,” Giventer said. The city manager is the “lead public servant for the people ... The public has an interest in who will be the (city’s) next administrative leader.”
This information also lets the public gauge the effectiveness of the recruitment, including whether it attracted an experienced, broad-based and diverse group of candidates.
“I would hope they would get 25 to 30 well-qualified candidates,” said Jim Marshall, a retired Ceres and Merced city manager who now serves as a volunteer mentor for Northern San Joaquin Valley and foothills cities through a League of California Cities and International City/County Management Association program.
Marshall said he did not see a problem with Modesto providing The Bee with the information it requested as long as it did not reveal the names.
The City Council has hired Sacramento-based CPS HR Consulting at a cost not to exceed $35,000 to help it hire a city manager.
The period to apply for the job ended March 19, and a council committee — consisting of Brandvold and Councilmen Mani Grewal and Tony Madrigal — formed to help with the recruitment met Wednesday to go over the next steps in the process.
Reeves, the city spokesman, said the consultant is reviewing the applications ahead of bringing forward qualified candidates for the council’s review during a Friday closed session meeting. He said the other steps include the council interviewing candidates April 16 and 17. He said the goal is for the council to announce its next city manager May 11.
Modesto’s position of not releasing information about the candidates is not unprecedented. A previous City Council and previous city administration working with a different consulting firm only released the number of applicants who applied for the job when Modesto last recruited for city manager in 2014.
That recruitment drew 19 applicants, and officials never said how many met the minimum qualifications for the job.
Modesto has not had a city manager in nearly a year after Jim Holgersson left. The official word from the city was Holgersson’s departure was a mutual decision, but the council was divided over him and he and the mayor had their differences.
Deputy City Manager Joe Lopez has been serving as acting and then interim city manager since then. Lopez said months ago he would apply for the job if the council recruited for the position but has declined to comment since the recruitment began.
It’s an important job. The city manager oversees an organization with about 1,200 employees and an annual operating budget of about $360 million. Modesto provides comprehensive services — including police and fire and water and sewer service — to more than 215,000 city residents.
It also comes with challenges. The council is divided (and sometimes council members exchange harsh words during meetings) and the city has faced a lot of turnover among its top ranks, with department heads and managers and supervisors below them leaving. But the city recently has made several strong hires — including directors of utilities, finance and human resources — to fill some of the vacancies.
Giventer said he believes it’s a desirable job.
“My impression is the city manager job is very attractive,” he said. Modesto is “a good-sized city, strategically located (close to Fresno, Sacramento and the Bay Area) and an up-and-coming city.”
He said city managers understand the job comes with politics and serious candidates will do their homework by talking to local leaders and others in the community.
Marshall, the retired Ceres and Merced manager, agreed with that assessment.
But Holgersson suggested the city could have trouble attracting candidates.
“Modesto’s story of not supporting management, being a tough political environment to manage in and a reputation of not treating managers well is and has been understood and well-known in professional public management circles,” he said in a Saturday statement. Holgersson has several decades’ experience as a city administrator.
The council may not even release the names of the city manager finalists. The previous council released the names of the finalists during the 2014 recruitment. And the Yosemite Community College District releases the names of the finalists for president of Modesto Junior and Columbia colleges, which is something other California community college districts do.
“At this stage,” Reeves said, “the City Council does not intend to release the names of the finalists to protect the confidentiality of the candidates who have those expectations.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Why Modesto is staying tight-lipped on its search for new city manager."