HELENA — At a special meeting at The City-County Building on Monday afternoon, Helena city commissioners discussed the recruitment process for finding a permanent city manager.
Over the past several years, The City of Helena has seen turnover in the city manager position. The City of Helena, city commissioners, and Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, want that to change, and one area they think is important is in the advertising of the position to potential candidates.
"The city hired a communications and management services CMS here in Helena to spearhead that process and today, what we discussed was we were fine-tuning the process that they provided to us so they can start advertising," said Collins.
Another important topic they discussed was the new salary they'd be offering for the position. The last city manager's salary was between $125,000 and $160,000, but with recent inflation, they're looking at an increase in the salary range.
"We also compared other communities our size. We've now we've fine tune it to $160,000 to $195,000, and that's where we're at," said Collins
Since Ron Alles stepped down in 2018, there have been two different permanent city managers, and several interim city managers as well, including current long-term interim city manager Tim Burton.
Burton previously served as city manager from 2000 to 2009, and Collins said that the Monday afternoon meeting was what they needed to start the recruiting process for the next permanent city manager.
"All of those things we discussed today and yes, the public will be meeting with the candidates," said Collins.
