City administrator candidate to receive public vetting

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader staff

Looks like the hiring process for that Sandpoint city administrator position won’t be entirely closed-door after all.

According to Sandpoint Mayor Carrie Logan and City Council President Shelby Rognstad, the final roster of candidates will be available for questions from the public at an upcoming council meeting. The date of this meeting is yet to be announced, but it will occur sometime after the position’s application deadline of Sept. 25. While the city isn’t required to open up its hiring process, Logan said the remarkable nature of the new position makes it worthwhile.

“The city recognizes that, because this is a very special post new to Sandpoint, it is vital that the community have confidence and faith in the selection,” Logan wrote in a statement released Tuesday.

One or more candidates will be present for questions from the public. This final candidate or list of candidates will be narrowed down from the greater applicant pool by an internal selection committee constituted of mayor-selected members. Each candidate will be considered based on his or her education, experience and work history, Logan said.

The city administrator is intended to consolidate some of the workload of both the mayor—a position Logan said currently requires long hours for little pay—and existing department heads into a single position. This will hopefully provide a sense of continuity for new mayoral administrations and councils. In addition, the public works, finance, parks and recreation, fire and legal departments all face the possibility of their department heads retiring within the next several years, and a city administrator will help weather that transition, Logan said.

“The city administrator is not a decision-maker,” she added. “Decisions continue to be the responsibility and privilege of the mayor and city council—your elected representatives.”