By JOSH COTTON

jcotton@timesobserver.com

Warren City Council has taken preliminary steps in the selection of its next city manager.

With current manager Nancy Freenock’s retirement date set for August 22, council met in special session to discuss next steps on Wednesday night.

Mayor David Wortman stressed that the importance of the session was “conversation about the process, making sure folks are comfortable with how we’re going to go about this important task.”

Executive Secretary Teena Leary said two professional search firms submitted proposals to the city at the request of Wortman.

Wortman told council that both entities outlined a process that will take about four months.

“Our window is a little bit tighter than that,” he said, citing Freenock’s retirement date, “but I don’t think we should necessarily let that timeline drive decisions that the body is not necessarily ready to make.”

That would open the door, he said, about the possibility of an interim city manager.

Both proposals were in the ballpark of $25,000.

Councilman John Wortman said he had questions about the financial impact of the expenditure on the city’s budget.

But council acknowledged the importance of the decision.

“I think that this, along with budgeting, is the most important thing city council does,” John Wortman said.

“If you say you can’t afford it, you have to afford it,” Councilman Maurice Cashman added. “We have to move forward to get a replacement in here.”

“We all know this is a very serious decision,” Councilwoman Wendy McCain said. “Hiring right is crucial.”

Council discussed the possibility of a scaled down version of services that could bring down the cost but Mayor Wortman said that “by default then basically puts a lot of that work or buden on city staff” or council.

McCain asked that an Erie-based search firm be considered as a possibility.

“I think we have a huge opportunity with Northwest Bank,” she added. “They’ve let go a lot of their higher level executives.”

Mayor Wortman said the hiring process would be open to local candidates.

Councilman Jared Villella spoke against pairing down the service because council doesn’t know what the city can do or what the city needs the company to provide at this stage.

“We kind of have to” sign on with a firm, he said. “That’s why these businesses exist.”

This appears to be potentially the first use of a dedicated search firm for a city manager hire in Warren.

Outside help of varying degrees, though, was utilized in Freenock’s hire as well as the hire of Jim Nelles before her.

John Wortman asked for detailed proposals from two of the search firms with the goal of action at the June meeting later this month.

While council took no action on the manager search, it did move to lay out the steps to fill a seat made vacant by Joe Michaels’ impending resignation.

Leary said that council has 30 days from the vacancy – in this case, the end of July – to appoint someone who would serve until Jan. 2, 2024. The seat would be included in the Nov. 2023 election and the successful candidate would serve through the end of 2025.

Council agreed to accept letters of interest and resumes up through July 1 as part of that effort.