With interviews scheduled to run throughout the day on Tuesday, Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall and the City Council were hoping to come to select one of the five candidates for the position of city administrator by Tuesday evening.
These individual meetings were preceded by a reception at the Roosevelt Tavern on Monday, May 19, that gave members of the public the chance to meet four of the candidates vying for the city's top staff position.
Rob Campbell, Frank Bell, Susan Robertson and Henry Lawrence each gave a brief introduction, while Gary Marks, who interviewed with the city on Friday, was unable to attend.
As of early last week, only Bell and Robertson were slated to be in town for Tuesday's interview session. However, interim City Administrator Jim Jaquet said a decision was made to invite two more candidates to provide more options and a wider perspective on his prospective replacement.
Jaquet said Campbell and Lawrence, who had both been recently interviewed for the Sun Valley city administrator position, were added upon the recommendation of Greg Prothman, head of the executive search firm hired to help the city fill the vacancy.
"I think there are three very important factors to look at—managerial experience, financial skills and communicative ability," Councilman Baird Gourlay said during Monday's reception.
In terms of experience, each of the candidates brings an extremely impressive resume to the contest.
Campbell has been county administrator for Archuleta, Colo., home of the Pagosa Springs resort, for the past two years.
Bell, who holds a doctorate in political science and a master's in public administration, is currently town manager of Telluride, Colo.
Robertson, the lone female candidate, is village manager of Fox Point, Wisc.
Lawrence has been city manager of Edgewood, Wash., since 1998. And Marks has spent nine years as city manager of Whitefish, Mont.
"They are all very qualified candidates and it will come down to finding the right fit," said Jaquet, who will be departing the city May 22.
