And then there were 21.
That is how many people who have applied to seek the vacant city manager’s job in Mount Airy, after the retirement of Barbara Jones earlier this year.
It previously was reported that 17 applicants were received by a Nov. 1 deadline, which also was accompanied by an acknowledgement from City Hall that the number possibly could grow.
Recent delays nationwide in mail deliveries by the U.S. Postal Service were noted as a possible factor in other applications/resumes arriving late while still bearing a Nov. 1 or earlier postmark.
“Twenty-one is the final that were received,” Mayor Ron Niland said Thursday.
“And we are in the process of trying to figure out how many we are going to interview,” Niland said of city council members.
A closed session to discuss that personnel issue was held during the last meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners on Nov. 4.
“The general consensus is we want to get that down to five to seven,” he said Thursday of whittling the applicant pool.
One issue involves the far-reaching areas represented by those interested in the Mount Airy job.
While most of the applicants live in North Carolina, others reside in such states as California, Texas, Ohio, Maine and Georgia, along with neighboring Virginia, the mayor has said.
This means some of the initial interviews likely will be done by telephone.
Niland hopes the process can begin in earnest in the next three weeks, with city officials hoping to hire a new manager by mid-January.
Background checks and interviews will take about a month, according to the mayor, which also allows time for the person selected to give sufficient notice to his or her present employer.
Jones has said she planned her retirement — effective Oct. 1 — so that the next city manager could be installed in time to take the reins during the municipal budget season. It begins early in the year and will culminate with the passage of the 2022-23 spending plan next June.
The last time Mount Airy was in the market for a city manager, in 2010, 40 people applied for the post that Jones — then the assistant manager here — subsequently was appointed to fill by the council.
She enjoyed a 30-year career in municipal government overall.
Until a new city manager is hired, Mount Airy Parks and Recreation Director Darren Lewis is filling that role on an interim basis while also juggling his regular responsibilities.
Lewis is said to not be interested in the manager job on a permanent basis, according to previous reports.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com