Carrboro Starts Search For New Town Manager

Bob Crowder of the N.C. League of Municipalities guided the aldermen through the process at Tuesday's board meeting. Hiring a town manager is one of the most important decisions a board will ever face, he said, one that none of the board members has ever had to make.

Morgan, who has accepted the position of assistant town manager in Greensboro, has served as Carrboro's manager for more than eighteen years.

The news is likely to spread rapidly that a post unavailable for so long now is open, Crowder said. "The average length of service in this state is about five years," he said. "I would guess that you're going to have close to 100 inquiries." One unidentified candidate already has approached the board concerning the position.

The board also must decide on an interim manager. Crowder said he knew of four possible candidates.

The interim manager will take on the responsibility of the town's projects and staff, including the daunting task of coordinating the 2003-04 budget. The service of the next manager most likely will begin next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Crowder said the process of hiring a new town manager will take at least six months but could take longer if the board decides to tackle it without the help of a search firm, which would cost the town between $10,000 and $20,000.

The money for the search will come from the budget and Morgan's unused salary, Mayor Mike Nelson said.

Alderman Jacquelyn Gist said she thinks that the town can take on the task on its own, citing her work on a committee to search for a University APPLES director without a search firm. "I haven't found it that cumbersome," she said. "I think a search firm is a lot of money."

She said she was wary of search firms' objectivity. "People tend to hire people who are like themselves," she said. "No one is like this board."

Alderman Joal Broun had a positive experience using a search firm to hire Orange Water and Sewer Authority executive director Ed Kerwin when she served on the utility's board of directors. "We spent a lot of time picking out the criteria," she said. "After that, we used that criteria to pick out a search firm."

Nelson said he also was leaning toward using a search firm. "I share the skepticism others have expressed," he said. "The key for me would be interviewing the search firms and feeling really, really comfortable with them."

Regardless of how the board focuses its search, Crowder said, he expects that people will apply from across the nation.

"Even if you concentrate on North Carolina, the grapevine is very strong in this field," he said. "Don't be surprised if you get an application from Alaska."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.