Murfreesboro City Council made a good decision Thursday night when it decided to conduct a national search for a replacement for City Manager Roger Haley who has announced he will resign later this year after 20 years in the position.
The city has an excellent candidate who may very well become the next city manager in Deputy City Manager Rob Lyons who has several years experience, knows the city’s operations, goals and needs well and knows the community overall.
But, the position is a hugely important one, charged with the day-to-day operations of a large, fast-growing and progressive city.
Although he has his critics, some well-founded, some simply the result of his being in a powerful position for a long time, Haley has done a superb job overseeing the city’s operations, most notably in all financial areas and in empowering and prompting other professional city directors in seeking to constantly improve and enhance the services they provide.
In almost every area of city government from debt service to recreation, Murfreesboro is a leader in Tennessee in city government.
That is a direct result of good overall management from Haley.
Continuing along that path is not a given, but will result in a good new manager following in Haley’s footsteps.
Lyons has given plenty of reasons to think he is the right person for the job.
But, changes in top management should be infrequent as has certainly been the case with the city manager position in Murfreesboro, and when the time comes as it has to fill the position, every avenue should be pursued to make sure the best possible candidate is hired.
The council’s decision then to cast a wide net, knowing it has an excellent candidate in hand against which to measure all contenders, is best for the future of the city.
And, the decision to let the public have input in the search will only enhance the opportunity to find the right candidate, to help educate the public on why and how the city manager system works and ultimately get as many as possible on the same page as far as expectations for the next city manager who will hopefully lead this city in the next 20 years. |
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