HUNTINGTON BEACH : 80 Seek the Job of City Administrator
About 80 people had applied by Tuesday’s deadline to be the city’s new administrator.
Current City Administrator Paul E. Cook announced his retirement earlier this year and plans to leave in a few months.
The city is looking for “someone who can administer, someone who can inspire leadership in the staff and put key people in key places,” Mayor Wes Bannister said Tuesday.
About 25 of the applicants meet the qualifications, according to Richard Perry, a partner of the San Mateo recruiting firm hired to choose five to seven semi-finalists. Perry said he will leave Friday on an “interview circuit” of those who qualify.
All candidates have been or are city managers of medium to large cities, with the exception of applicants who now work for Huntington Beach, Perry said. Sixteen of the top candidates work in California, he added.
The council plans to name the new city administrator by about Dec. 12.
“We’d love to have him start Jan. 1,” Bannister said.
Huntington Beach, the 11th largest city in California, has about 187,000 residents and 1,000 city employees.
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