The screening committee which has been reviewing potential applications for the position of city administrator selected 11 applicants to move forward with video interviews.
According to Lesa Rissler, one of the screening committee members, the committee met May 10 to review the 28 applications the city has received for the city administrator position.
The other members of the screening committee -- which consist of businessman Jonathan Barnett, Simmons Foods Chief Financial Officer David Jackson, Generations Bank Market Manager Randy Torres and attorney Carla Wasson -- reviewed the 28 applications and selected the following applicants for Zoom Interviews:
Joshua Brugger
Dawn Collins
Jon Holmes
Patrick Marsh
Kent Meyers
John Millan
Mike Randall
Scott Randall
Aaron Smith
John Stone
Wesley Young
Zoom interviews will be held between June 5-9 with the city's human resources department, Rissler said.
Rissler, who is on the committee to facilitate communications between the committee and city personnel, did not see the applications until the committee met on May 10, she said.
The deadline to submit applications for the first round was May 23, but the committee met early to work around the vacations of the committee members, Rissler said. Rissler also said she emailed the committee members on Tuesday and asked if they wanted to include any stragglers in the list of interviews.
Rissler said the board wants human resources and the screening committee to whittle down the applications to five candidates that the board will interview during executive session meetings to select the next city administrator.
The committee itself has worked to come up with a rubric for finding the right candidate for the position, Rissler said.
"David (Jackson) brought in a list of attributes that Simmons looks for in leaders," Rissler said. "He asked (Simmons' board) what attributes they want to see in a city administrator and brought them to us."
Jackson's attributes which he brought to the committee were:
Courage
Instills trust
Communicates effectively
Ensures accountability
Balances stakeholders
The committee was formed on Monday, March 13, following the dismissal of former City Administrator Phillip Patterson on March 7. Patterson's contract was terminated without cause and received full benefits for a year.
Rissler said the job listing was posted on the following sites: Arkansas Municipal League, Oklahoma Municipal League, Texas Municipal League, Missouri Municipal League, League of Kansas Municipalities, Louisiana Municipal League, Tennessee Municipal League and the National League of Cities.
Other sites where the position was posted were the International City/County Management Association, Indeed, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.