NEWPORT BEACH

The City Council has narrowed the field of potential new city managers to three and will conduct more in-depth interviews Tuesday, officials said. The interviews have been taking place in closed session and the candidates’ identities kept under wraps because personnel issues are confidential. Council members hope to have a new city manager in place by the end of March. The job will pay about $140,000 per year.

Administrative Services Director Dennis Danner has been handling the office’s duties since former City Manager Kevin Murphy left in September. Murphy resigned from his 6 1/2-year post, but it later came out that he left in the face of a no-confidence vote by four council members. None of the four--John Hedges, John E. Noyes Jr., Tom Thomson and Norma Glover--have publicly revealed their reasons for wanting Murphy gone.