Weeding out the chaff

Shawnee city commissioners have gone through the stack of resumes for city manager and seven remain in the running, but there are more steps before a manager will be hired.
In Monday’s regular meeting, Commissioner Pam Stephens said the committee reviewed 34 applicants and seven still are prospects with one more candidate possibly in the hunt, depending on his/her additional information.
Stephens said the committee — commissioners Linda Peterson, Carl Holt and Stephens, along with commissioner-elect James Harrod — needs more guidance. The commission unanimously agreed to allow the committee to perform background checks on the seven or eight candidates and to conduct phone interviews to further “weed out” candidates.
Peterson said by no means are they pushing forward a commitment that someone will be chosen from the pool of applicants.
Commissioner Tom Schrzan said his consensus was for the city commission to not make a final decision in finding a city manager until the new commission is seated in November.
As long as commissioners don’t select a city manager, progress will be fine, Schrzan said.
In other business, commissioners approved the bargaining agreement between the city and the local police union for fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10 without going into executive session to discuss it.
Shawnee Labor Attorney Matt Love said the agreement is similar to last year’s agreement with two major changes regarding the expiration date and wages.
Love said the agreement went from a one-year agreement to two years. In regard to wages, officers will receive a 2 percent raise in the first year and a three percent raise in the second year, he said.
Love said the agreement allows for either side to revisit health insurance and work hours, which provides flexibility in shift changes, in the second year.
For more coverage of Monday nights commission meeting, see upcoming editions of the News-Star.