Council to Consider City Manager Vacancy

On the occasion of City Manager Grant Brimhall’s final City Council meeting Tuesday, his elected bosses are expected to pick a short-term replacement and haggle over how to permanently fill his shoes.

Brimhall, a 20-year veteran of the city bureaucracy, retires on Valentine’s Day.

Assistant City Manager MaryJane V. Lazz is the heir apparent for the interim job, but some council members have also floated Finance Director Bob Biery’s name as a possibility.

The five-member panel will also consider a request from Councilwoman Linda Parks that would require a rare unanimous vote to tap Brimhall’s successor.

“It is important to achieve consensus on this major decision,” Parks wrote in a memo to her colleagues.

“Our city has been divided on numerous issues, thus emphasizing the importance of a city manager who can work with divergent interests.

“The chemistry of the candidate may be the most important criteria in his or her selection. . . . By requiring a unanimous vote of the council in this important decision, the city can take a step toward unity.”

Parks is also proposing creation of a city manager search committee, made up of city union representatives, members of the public and people active in service groups and the Chamber of Commerce.

The committee would help an executive search firm formulate a job description for the next city manager, she wrote.