City manager search closes in on finalists

The Columbia Falls City Council is whittling down the prospective candidates for the city manager position.

Council interviewed about eight candidates Monday in an executive session. From that pool, two or three finalists are expected to be chosen.

The city is on its third search for a city manager. The first finalist was found to have an ethics violation in Nevada and was ultimately rejected and the second candidate pulled out of contention the day before he was expected to sign a contract.

This time around the city hired a recruiting firm out of Texas to do a nationwide search.

The city is paying Texas firm Clear Career Professionals $17,000 for the search. The company, which was the lowest cost of the nine firms that the city received proposals from, has a history of placing city managers in positions, though primarily in Texas, according to the company’s literature.

The city hopes to hire a new city manager by early March, with finalist interviews on March 7.

After the manager candidates are whittled down, the council plans on having the finalists come to Columbia Falls for a visit and be interviewed by the council along with a public interaction.

Mark Shrives, the former city manager for the city of Polson, has been filling in as interim city manager. Former city manager Susan Nicosia retired last June,  but has been helping out on a contract basis to help the city with its budget and with grants.