Columbia continues search for city manager

The Columbia City Council held a closed door meeting Thursday in the Howard Municipal Building to interview candidates for the position of City Manager.

Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said the council interviewed a group of candidates.

“We did interview a robust pool of candidates and made some selections and want to take the next step with a number of candidates,” he said.

The city is still searching for a city manager to take the place of Interim City Manager John Glascock.

Former City Manager Mike Matthes resigned from his position on Nov. 20, 2018. Matthes tendered his resignation in a one-line email to the city council.

In February, the city brought in consultants to stakeholders in the search to fill the position. At that time, consultants were looking to make an offer to a candidate by mid-May and have that person begin the job on July 1.

Columbia Mayor Brian Treece previously told ABC 17 News there is no deadline as the city moves forward in the search, but he hopes to have someone in the position by the end of June. Thursday he said that possibility was still realistic.

“We do have two days coming up where we can continue that interview process with a little more interactive and informal debut of candidates,” he said.

Treece said potential candidates will probably come to Columbia June 20 and 21. The council discussed several options to interview the candidates, including a press conference, city tour, public forum and more.

He said the public will have a chance to meet the candidates in person.

“There’ll be a public announcement of at least a meet and greet to get to know potential candidates for the city manager position,” he said.

Treece said the candidate’s interactions with the public and department heads will be the next step in the interview process.