S. Pasadena to Screen Finalists for Post of City Manager

The South Pasadena City Council will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to interview the top half-dozen candidates vying to become city manager of the troubled municipality.

Mayor Dorothy Cohen said the council expects the successful candidate to take over the third week of November from Interim City Manager Linda Holmes, who uncovered many of the problems in City Hall and the Police Department.

The six candidates include a number of city managers selected from a pool of more than 40 applicants by an executive search firm, David M. Griffith & Associates, Cohen said.

“All those we’re interviewing are well-qualified,” Cohen said. “We’re basically looking for the right sort of chemistry between the council and the candidate.”

Cohen said the council could select a city manager Wednesday if one applicant is the unanimous choice, but it is more likely the council members will narrow the field to two candidates before making a final selection later this month.

The new manager will take over a city in which prosecutors are probing the Police Department’s alleged cover-up of a hit-and-run accident involving a politically well-connected police officer. That officer also faces hit-and-run charges, and the police chief is out on disability linked to stress.

In addition, the assistant city manager was convicted of embezzlement, and the former executive director of a senior citizens center faces similar charges.