Desperately Seeking City Manager

Former City Manager Marc Ott (Photo by John Anderson)

City Council is expected today, April 13, to create a City Manager Search Advisory Task Force, 11 Council appointees charged with developing a "preferred profile" for potential candidates to replace Marc Ott and his interim successor Elaine Hart. Council has asked search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to cast a wide net – public and private sector – and tentatively accepted the firm's recommendation to maintain confidentiality until a finalist is announced, though the details remain unconfirmed. Among the names floated for today's task force nominees: former Assistant City Manager Laura Huffman, longtime city advocate and activist Saundra Kirk, NAACP attorney Gary Bledsoe, local search maven Jan Lehman … we'll hear the full list today. For more on the search and the Council's view, see "Managing Secrets," April 10.