SLT council can’t even agree on firm to find city manager

By Kathryn Reed

Along familiar lines, it was a 3-2 vote by the South Lake Tahoe City Council to pick the firm to handle the search for the next city manager.

With Dave Jinkens calling it quits when his contract expires in August, the council needs someone to replace him. The group had previously agreed to spend no more than $15,000 to hire a headhunter to whittle the applicants to a manageable pool.

Two firms made presentations Tuesday, with Bob Murray & Associates wining out over Peckham/McKenney.

Councilmen Jerry Birdwell and Bill Crawford cast the dissenting votes.

“I don’t think we interviewed enough people. I didn’t see the necessity to rush in (to a contract),” Birdwell said.

He would have preferred having time to digest what the candidates said instead of making a decision on the spot.

Crawford is less than thrilled with the job Murray has done in the past. Murray brought Jinkens and former City Manager Dave Childs to the forefront for consideration.

“Murray is too slick,” Crawford said.

During his presentation Murray said he would try to meet that day’s deadline for the May issue of “Western Cities” trade publication to get an ad out for the city manager job.

Crawford questions the need to have someone else do it when the city handled the ad in the same publication when it sought two city attorneys without the assistance of a headhunter.

Murray said it’s possible the council could be interviewing candidates in 90 days, with someone seated a month later.