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Manager search narrowed to three

STEUBENVILLE – City Council will invite three final city manager candidates to Steubenville on Nov. 8 and 9 for a tour of the city and face-to-face interviews with council members and the citizens committee.

Council members and the citizens committee narrowed the final list of candidates from four applicants to three finalists Monday evening during an hour-long executive session.

The final four candidates participated in telephone interviews last week.

“We are inviting the final three people to come for personal interviews on Nov. 9. That will allow them to arrive in Steubenville on Friday for a tour of the city with Mayor (Domenick) Mucci. First Ward Councilman Gerald DiLoreto and I will also be available for the tour of the city. And the candidates will have time to conduct their own research of the city before they come here for the final interview,” Third Ward Councilman Greg Metcalf explained Monday night.

“As we have in the past, council members will interview a candidate while the citizens committee interviews another candidate. We will flip back and forth until all three candidates have been interviewed by both groups. I hope council and the citizens committee can sit down after the interviews are concluded so we can compare notes and share our thoughts on the final candidates. At that point council will determine the person we will offer the city manager’s job,” continued Metcalf.

Metcalf said he still anticipates having a new city manager by mid-November.

“We have seven council members and seven members of the citizens committee, so I anticipate we will have a good series of interviews and a good conversation when the interviews are completed. The citizens committee will give us its opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates,” Metcalf added.

This is the second attempt by City Council to fill the city manager position after former City Manager Cathy Davison resigned in May.

The first round of the search process failed to hire a manager after the final candidate turned down the Steubenville city manager job for a city manager position in Grand Junction, Kan.

A second finalist told City Council he was dropping out of the running for the job to accept a city manager job in Portsmouth, Ohio.

The second round search process saw 34 people apply for the job.

Council cut that list to 17 qualified applicants and then reduce the number to eight candidates last week.

The citizens review committee was invited to participate in the telephone interviews this week.

Metcalf said several applicants from the first round search process applied for the job again.

According to the city charter, “Once the applicant is chosen, the said applicant must be on the job within 30 days from the date he or she is hired.”

Under the terms of the charter, Mayor Domenick Mucci will continue serving as acting city manager until someone is hired for the position.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com)

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