Wanting to be sure Clinton has a full city council, the City is pausing the applications deadline for the City Manager position until March 28.
Mayor Randy Randall told The Chronicle this morning (March 11) that the runoff election between incumbent Robbie Neal and challenger Natalie Gogsdill - which will happen next Tuesday, March 18 - is the last hurdle for the city council in considering a replacement for Tom Brooks, who resigned for an opportunity in private business.
The City, through the SC Municipal Association, has received 42 applications for the city manager position.
These will be vetted, screened, and ranked by the Municipal Association.
Council will have a called meeting on March 24 for council members' swearing in, then likely another meeting for the city's labor lawyer to conduct a workshop on how to conduct an interview, Randall said.
It is important to get the new, full council sworn in, Randall said, because the City's budget process is underway. Some orientation for new council members will be held related to the budget process, he said.
"We were behind some other South Carolina cities that were looking for managers," Randall said. Extending the application deadline will let others interested in competing for the position put their names in the hat.
People who already have applied do not have to re-apply. "We are telling the applicants, their applications are good," Randall said.
The Municipal Association agreed with the recommendation to keep the applications process open, Randall said.
The SC Municipal Association has information for any qualified candidate to apply, along with information about the City and the job requirements. Council made its decision to extend the applications deadline at a called meeting last night (March 10). Randall said he hopes to have all the applicants who are interested apply, swearing in for council members done by the council's April meeting (first Monday), so the focus can shift to the FY 2025-26 budget. "We need to get some stability in here," Randall said.
