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Council gives input on qualities of next city manager




Council gives input on qualities of next city manager

Council gives input on qualities of next city manager

Wanted: Someone who can manage Murfreesboro’s rapid growth, capitalize on it to finance city services, and prepare for the day that it winds down. 

City Council members officially began their search for a new city manager this week, setting the bar high for the man or woman who will replace Rob Lyons.  

The council in January contracted with Strategic Government Resources (SGR) for $28,000 to lead the search to replace Lyons, who resigned in December. 

Representatives of SGR met last week city council members and Mayor Shane McFarland, and key city staff members to develop a candidate profile. Central to that is identifying the challenges and opportunities facing Murfreesboro, and the corresponding qualities in the person who will respond to them. 

 “You’ve got a lot of growth issues, not surprisingly,” said Doug Thomas, senior vice president of SGR, at a Special City Council meeting on Thursday. “So we would market it as a challenge and an opportunity for someone who has experience working in high-growth communities. And we’ll unpack that in greater detail as we go forward.” 

SGR will spend about the next month preparing the profile and promotional materials before starting the advertising and vetting process that will result in 8-12 semifinalists and 3-6 final candidates for in-person interviews. 

“Our process is very much designed to No. 1, learn as much as possible about what Murfreesboro is all about…the types of issues and challenges you are facing, the types of attributes and experience you are looking for in the ideal candidate. That will arguably be the most important issue you deal with—the appointment of a city manager,” Thomas said. 

Based on meetings with council members, Thomas developed themes to guide the firm as they “cast a broad net” for candidates. Those qualities in potential city managers include: 

  • Ability to play a high-visibility role in city government and the community 
  • Experience with high-growth issues and the vision to do long-term planning 
  • Vetting of issues and options for the council and decisiveness 
  • Strong financial-planning skills 

That will come into play as the city’s high-growth period begins to slow down at some point, Thomas said. 

“You’ve been experiencing tremendous growth and you’ve been able to live off the proceeds of that. But a number of you have identified appropriately that at some point the growth will stop,” Thomas said. “So you’re going to build this organization and you’ve got to be thinking longer term, strategically about the resources to be able to pay for those services when growth is no longer clipping at 5 to 7 percent.” 

So that will call for a solid economic development background, he said. 

“There’s some real uncertainty about … what you want to be and the type of targeted businesses and industries you’re trying to attract,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot of conversation about higher-wage, higher-skill, office, corporate headquarter type development.

“In order to do that you’ve got to figure out where you want to go.” 

City Councilman Eddie Smotherman said with its quality of life and amenities, the growth taking place and accompanying revenue stream, “Murfreesboro is not broke” and should attract quality candidates. 

“I would be disappointed if we don’t have a phenomenal batch of candidates,” he said. But he added that one thing he is concerned about is bringing candidates from the Nashville airport down I-24 to Murfreesboro, through areas that might leave a “sour taste before they see Murfreesboro.”

McFarland agreed that the city should attract great applicants, but said “we are going to have to sell Murfreesboro, too.” 

“It’s not ‘you’re lucky to come to us.’ We also have to put our sales pitch forward,” McFarland said. He also wants to involve city department heads and employees as much as possible. 

“We want this process to be successful. All of us want to make sure we get the best fit—a leader we can all look up to,” McFarland said. 

The exact length of the process is hard to predict because of all the variables involved. Councilman Rick LaLance said the council must commit to quick turn-around on all the work SGR requires it to do to keep things moving along. 

“Keep us engaged…keep the foot on the gas for us,” LaLance said. 

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