Thirty have applied for Norris city manager Council will begin selection Friday
Norris city officials say “about 30” people submitted applications for the vacant city manager position through the Monday, July 18, deadline.
The city now will move ahead with a schedule of special meetings to interview applicants and make a final hiring decision.
Whomever is hired will replace former City Manager Scott Hackler, whose resignation was effective at the end of the day June 27.
During a special meeting in late June, the City Council approved a list of qualifications for applicants that was included in advertisements that were placed through various media to seek candidates for the job.
The council will hold a special called meeting at 6 p.m. this Friday, July 22, to review applications and choose candidates to interview.
Then first interviews with those applicants will be held during three special meeting, at 6 p.m. Aug. 3, 4 and 5. That will be followed by second interviews of the finalists during a called meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8.
On Monday, Aug. 8, the council will meet at 6 p.m., just prior to the regular August council meeting, to make an offer to the finalist, the council decided.
All of the meetings, including the interviews, are open to the public.
Among requirements for applicants as stated in the ad were at least a bachelor’s degree in business management or a related field, and experience in managing people.
The ad also noted that the city manager would be expected to work longer than 40 hours per week, and that the extra work would not include overtime pay.
In the meantime, Hackler continues to perform some city administrative duties for a maximum of 10 hours a week through the end of August, by which time the city hopes to have a new city manager hired and on board.
Joshua Anderson, a first-term Anderson County commissioner who also serves as chairman of the commission, was among the first candidates to apply.
Hackler submitted his resignation by email to city officials and the media on Wednesday, June 15, nearly two days after a contentious City Council meeting during which he was engaged in heated exchanges with council members Will Grinder and Loretta Painter over issues concerning the proposed new fiscal-year budget.
Hackler, who is 63, told The Courier News that he had experienced some recent health issues, and felt that continuing in the city manager position would put too much stress on him.
He said he has accepted a part-time consulting position at the Y-12 plant at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he had served on the fire department until his retirement about five years ago. His last 17 years there were spent as fire chief.
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