Commerce council to interview manager applicants Saturday

The Commerce City Council plans to interview five city manager applicants Saturday, interim city manager Tom Berry announced.

“We are finalizing a group for the first interview process, of about five,” Berry said. “Then there are some others who are good candidates as well if they don’t like that five. Hopefully, they will find somebody out of this group. I tell you, I’ve done this several times. The city council is putting a lot of work into the process. They’re determined to find the right person.”

The interviews will be conducted behind closed doors. The council will hold a called meeting at 8 a.m. at City Hall to consider the emergency repair of a broken water line, then declare a closed session, move to the cabin at Southeast Toyota and conduct the interviews.

After the first round of interviews, Berry said the council could opt to interview additional applicants with the idea of narrowing the field to three or four finalists.
“They may or may not bring them back in (for a second round of interviews),” Berry said, adding that the names of the finalists will be made public. “They will discuss among themselves which one to make an offer to.”

The finalist will succeed Clarence Bryant, who retired June 30 after more than 20 years as Commerce’s city manager. Berry came on as interim manager effective July 1, and through his Underwood Company is also leading the search for the new manager.