The City of Tomball is taking the initial steps to find a replacement for former City Manager Jan Belcher, who resigned under fire last month.

During a workshop meeting Dec. 21, Assistant City Manager Christal Kliewer, who is currently serving as the city’s interim City Manager, laid out a plan of action to members of the city council in order to find a suitable replacement.

The biggest question moving forward for the council was whether they would choose to hire an outside consulting firm, at a likely cost of several thousand dollars, to help identify the best candidate for the city manager position.

In 2006 when the city went through a similar process to replace former City Manager Ben Griffin, they paid Waters Consulting Group $23,000 to help narrow down a search that eventually lead to the hiring of Belcher.

However, last week the council opted not to hire an outside firm, choosing instead to utilize an in-house process to hire a permanent city manager.

The lengthy process agreed upon by the council to find a new administrator could take up to 12 weeks once the job is initially posted, Kliewer said.

The first step in the process, she explained, was to post the opening in “likely places” a possible candidate would look, such as on the city’s Web site, with the Texas Municipal League, the International City Management Association (ICMA) and the Texas City Management Association (TCMA).

It’s possible, Kliewer said, that the city could receive up to 120 applicants, but councilman Warren Driver asked that the advertising process not be so broad as to attract that many applicants.

Kliewer said that among any number of applicants, an initial screening would narrow a list to about 25 possible candidates for council’s first review. The city would then send invitations out to those 25 candidates to move into the more formal application process.

The qualifications required by the city of any applicant remain largely unchanged from when the city hired Belcher: a bachelor’s degree, with preference of a master’s degree, membership in IMCA and/or TCMA, among others.

Kliewer said the Association memberships were important because they are “the only local government professional organization bound to a code of ethics.”

The city will also require that any candidate have at least five years experience as a city manager.

Kliewer then identified several personal characteristics the city would look for in a potential city manager.

Councilman Derek Townsend said he would like a candidate who has “gone through the growing pains we’re going through now, and has experienced positive development.”

Other qualities the council may look for include being active in the community, someone who has “a reputation of high ethical conduct,” and “is understanding of a political environment, but operates apolitically.”

“I don’t want a micromanager,” Townsend said. “Let these folks (city staff) do their jobs.”

Councilman Mark Stoll said he would like to see a candidate who “trusts their managers and department heads,” and who will talk to the “sleeping majority” in the city.

After initial screenings by the council, the list of potential candidates will first be narrowed down to about 15 to 20. Following the first cut, the candidates will then answer a questionnaire in which they have 24 hours to reply.

The second cut will pare down the candidates to about seven to 10, which will then be followed by background and reference checks.

Driver asked Kliewer to consider implementing a psychological examination for serious candidates. The legalities and feasibility of such a procedure were unclear to council and Kliewer said she would look into the possibility.

After the background checks, the list will be cut to about five candidates who will then enter in the personal interview portion of the process. That will include an interview with city administrators and council, a tour of the city, attendance at a city social function and participation in an “assessment center,” which is similar to a role playing scenario for potential city employees.

A list of final candidates will be given to council for approval, likely sometime in the spring of 2010.

Townsend said he would like to have a new city manager hired before the budget process begins in the spring and “before hurricane season.”

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