From Pasadena NOW: The city will hold a public meeting to hear the community’s thoughts on the next city manager.

The community town hall will take place at 6 p.m. on March 24 in the Creveling Lounge at Pasadena City College.

Wendi Brown of Brown Creative Partners, the firm that will conduct the recruitment, will facilitate the meeting.

Masks are required.

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Karla Covarrubias at kcovarrubias@cityofpasadena.net or 626-744-4368 by Tuesday, March 22 to confirm your attendance. 

City Manager Steve Mermell retired in December after more than 30 years with the city.

The city has a council-city manager type of government, which calls for the elected City Council to serve as the city’s primary legislative body and to appoint a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations, draft a budget, implement and enforce the council’s policy and legislative initiatives, and oversee 14 of the 16 city departments.

The city manager is one of the three positions the City Council is responsible for filling. The council also hires the city clerk and city attorney.

The City Council approved a $32,800 contract with the search in January. In September, mayor Victor Gordo said the city would conduct a national search.

So far two ad hoc committees have been involved in the search. The first one, which includes Vice-Mayor Andy Wilson and Councilmembers John Kennedy, Gene Masuda and Jessica Rivas, helped select the search firm, and the second one, chaired by Gordo and consisting of Councilmembers Tyron Hampton, Felicia Williams and Steve Madison will review the resumes and recommend who to interview.

The full council will conduct all the interviews.

It is not known if the current ad-hoc committee will make site visits or how deep the vetting will go.

The city also included a link to a five minute survey that allows community members to share the characteristics, experience and background they would like to see in the next city manager.

To take the survey, visit:

English Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W5F6SXT

Spanish Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8H686PK