The consulting firm hired to help search for the next town manager is seeking citizen feedback on what residents are looking for in the next town manager.

At the end of December, current Town Manager Karl Kilduff announced that he would leave his position in February, spurring the Town Council to kickstart its search for the next manager. The council hired Randi Frank Consulting LLC in early January to assist with the search.

Now, the Town Council is asking for feedback to help with the search.

Questions

A message posted on the town website on Jan. 25 asks residents and stakeholders to send an email to Frank at randi@randifrank.com by Monday, Feb. 12, with answers to the following questions:

What are the current and future challenges and opportunities that currently face the Town of Clinton?

What are the professional qualifications or personal characteristics you believe are most essential to perform the work of town manager in Clinton?

What challenges and opportunities do you believe are most critical for the town manager to be able to address?

The most important thing a new town manager should know about Clinton is?

What are the great things we should tell candidates about the town and region?

The responses to the question will be kept confidential and will help inform the search firm of the qualities desired by residents.

The Town Manager Job

In order to help respondents think about what qualities would make a good town manager, the post also included a job description for the position.

Per the post, “The town manager is appointed by the Town Council to serve as the chief executive officer and chief administrative officer. The Town Manager supervises most of the town departments and their functions and programs and services. The town manager shall see that all policies set by the Town Council, along with the laws and ordinances governing the Town, are faithfully executed. He or she will prepare the town budget for the Town Council's approval, prepare an annual report, and provide advice to the Town Council on municipal projects and the financial condition of the Town. The Town Manager serves as the personnel director/human resources director for the Town.”

The Process

Kilduff’s last day in Clinton is scheduled to be Monday, Feb. 19. To ensure that town operations can continue as smoothly as possible until a new town manager is found, the council unanimously voted to appoint an interim town manager at its meeting on Jan. 17.

The council announced that Richard Brown will serve as the interim manager effective Feb. 19.

Town Council Chairperson Carrie Allen said Brown will work 21 hours in Clinton and seven hours virtually. He will be paid $140 an hour, according to Allen. Brown is a member of Randi Frank Consulting LLC and will serve as interim manager for an initial term of up to 180 days.

Also, on Jan. 17, the Town Council held a special meeting where Frank joined the council virtually to lay out more information about how the search process will work.

Frank said that the first step will interviews with community stakeholders.

The next step is to develop a profile based on what the town needs and what the stakeholders say they are looking for.

From there, a national search for candidates will be launched. Once resumes are collected, the applicants will be screened for qualifications, and a list of semifinalists will be presented to the council. After that list is whittled down, the finalists will be invited to interview for the position.

The council stated earlier this year that some sort of public engagement may be held for residents to interact with the finalists. In 2019, the town hosted an open house event for the final three candidates so citizens could meet them and ask questions.