The Rifle City Council discussed the nomination of a finalist for the vacant city manager position during its regular meeting Wednesday evening.
The subject of discussion was the nomination of Patrick Waller, who is planning director and interim city manager after former city manager Tommy Klein left the office three months ago.
The council went into closed session at its last meeting on July 17 to discuss Waller’s performance over the past three months and must now nominate him as a finalist before offering him a contract.
“From what I’ve heard from everybody, everyone is pretty happy with Pat’s work, I certainly am, and the staff is happy,” said Jim Neu, Rifle’s city attorney. “I think the review went well.”
The alternative to Waller or another internal candidate would be a nationwide search, and Neu said he hasn’t heard of anyone wanting that.
“If you do a nationwide search, you bring in half a dozen people, you have a committee and an open house, then you narrow the number of finalists down to three and then there’s another open house,” Neu said.
Some of the council members discussed what it would be like to conduct a nationwide search.
“I think we have a financial obligation to the city,” said Councilwoman Alicia Gresley. “For those who don’t know about us, it seems like a costly process (to hire someone from outside the city). I think someone who knows the community and the city and is invested in its success is more valuable.”
City Councilman Joe Carpenter shared his experiences conducting nationwide searches for city managers in the past.
“It’s not just expensive. We’ve already spent a lot of money and done a lot of research, and I wasn’t impressed with the results we got. The last time we raised from within, it worked out really well,” Carpenter said of Klein.
The difference between their last search for a city manager and now is that they waited three months to evaluate Waller, not six.
“Originally we were going to do a six-month transition period, and this is an accelerated version of that,” said Rifle Mayor Sean Strode. “I think the council in general has a lot of confidence in Patrick. One of the most important factors for me is that he’s taking on the role of both planning director and city manager, and that’s a lot to ask of someone for six months.”
Strode said this could impact the way they serve the community of Rifle. The council voted yes overall to nominate Waller for city manager.
Only city councilor Chris Bornholdt voted no and explained why.
“I felt like everyone was rushing the decision,” he said. “That’s nothing against Patrick, I want him to succeed. It’s an important position and I don’t think we should rush into it. I think six months is a good time frame. We need to take our time and make sure we do a good job.”
The City will issue a notice to inform the public that it intends to nominate Waller for the position of City Manager. The public will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the nomination prior to the appointment.
