Anaheim : City Turning to Search Firm for Power Engineer

The city is looking for a power resource planning engineer--and want ads won’t do the trick.

City Council members last week approved spending up to $14,000 in a contract with Korn/Ferry International, which will conduct a nationwide search to fill the new position.

The job, which will pay about $50,000 a year, includes responsibilities for negotiating and preparing power resource contracts and power supply studies, said Anaheim’s human resources director, Garry McRae.

Anaheim contracts with executive search firms about once a year, McRae said. The firms are used for “highly specialized jobs” which are typically difficult to fill, he said.

For example, City Manager William O. Talley and Dale Pohlman, the power resources assistant general manager, were hired through such search services, McRae said.