Council interviews 5 city manager applicants

Following a Saturday spent interviewing five prospective candidates for city manager, the Commerce City Council reached the conclusion — that further interviews are needed.

“We had a good group of candidates. I thought it went real well,” commented Ward 4 councilman Steve Perry.

The council met behind closed doors at the Southeast Toyota cabin, breaking for a catered luncheon.

“We may interview some other people. We also may have some of the candidates back for another interview.”

Perry said the group had a lot of discussions about style and about which candidates would be the best fit for the city.

“I don’t think there was a consensus on one particular candidate,” he said. “There was a desire to have more contact, maybe in a different environment, something social — to bring them in, maybe cook hamburgers, maybe let them bring their wives and give them a better feel.”

Interim city manager Tom Berry said the council remains focused.

“They will probably want to do a few more interviews, not because they didn’t find some good candidates,” Berry said. “I think they were pleased by the candidates. I have never worked with anybody who was so focused on making sure they get the right person in this job. They are really interested in finding the right person.”

Berry said he may bring in one or two additional candidates as well as arrange for second interviews with some of the first group. Perry speculated that the council may recall “two or three” of the first group.

“We are getting a lot closer,” Perry said. “I was pretty pleased with the way it went.”

When asked, Perry said the council does not feel any pressure to act quickly on finding a successor to Clarence Bryant, who retired July 1 after over 20 years in the position.

“The council is more interested in getting it right than in getting it done in a hurry,” Perry said.

Berry said he expects the next interviews — whoever and in whatever format — to be conducted “within a week, two weeks at the outside.”

“This (Saturday’s interviews) was more of a professional interview,” Berry remarked. “They (the council members) want to see the candidates on a more informal basis as well.”

According to Perry, the interviews on Saturday averaged about 90 minutes per candidate.