Evanston community members are invited to participate in two upcoming opportunities to provide feedback on the search for Evanston’s next city manager.
Following a nationwide recruitment process, the City Council has narrowed its search to two finalists, to be named during the week of January 3. Community members will have the opportunity to meet the candidates, ask questions, and provide feedback by participating in a virtual town hall meeting or applying to be part of a community interview panel.
Candidate Panels, January 13
Three panels, including a panel of community members, a panel of City staff, and a panel of business and nonprofit stakeholders, will have the opportunity to meet and interview finalist candidates.
Evanston residents interested in participating in the community member candidate panel should complete the City Manager Interview Panel Application form, call the City Clerk’s Office at 847-448-8199, or email cityclerk@cityofevanston.org by Tuesday, January 4.
On January 5, the Evanston City Clerk’s office will randomly select community members from each ward to be a part of the interview panel, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, January 13, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Virtual Town Halls, January 9
Virtual town hall meetings are tentatively scheduled for late afternoon on Sunday, January 9. Community members will have the opportunity to submit questions for candidates in advance via phone or through an online form. More details about the virtual town halls, including a virtual meeting link(s), will be available during the week of January 3.
Following the candidate panels and virtual town halls, the City Council will take time to review the feedback and panel reports and will schedule an executive session meeting at the end of January to deliberate and make a decision.
Process and Engagement to Date
In October, CPS HR, the City’s recruitment firm, met with City Council, staff, and stakeholders in person and via telephone to gather input on the ideal attributes for city manager candidates. CPS HR also hosted a virtual town hall meeting and conducted an online survey to gather feedback from community members. View a summary of engagement process results (.pdf). Feedback was used to develop a recruitment brochure (.pdf), which was distributed nationwide to a targeted audience of potential applicants.
Of the 30 candidates who expressed interest in the position, CPS HR interviewed 13 top candidates and presented a list of nine candidates for consideration by the City Council. The City Council selected four of the nine candidates for further consideration and interviewed them on December 14, narrowing the list to two finalists.
More information about the city manager search process is available on the City’s website, cityofevanston.org/managersearch, or by calling/texting 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 311 in Evanston.
