Randy Hemann, who has been offered the position of Red Bank City Manager position.
Red Bank officials are debating whether to hike the salary rate for their prospective city manager to further entice him to move from a long-held post and recent raise at his current North Carolina job.
Randy Hemann, currently executive director of Downtown Salisbury Inc. in Salisbury, N.C., was the Red Bank Board of Commissioners' unanimous pick for city manager during a meeting Tuesday.
In his resume, Hemann originally said his salary requirement was $75,000 -- the same figure commissioners capped the position's salary at two weeks ago.
But since he was tapped as a finalist for the Red Bank post, Downtown Salisbury has offered Hemann a $12,000 raise, Mayor Monty Millard said.
"It's obvious his current employers really want to keep him there, and it's not fair to ask [Hemann] to take a cut in salary to move his family over here," Millard said Friday. "That's a lot to ask."
Interim City Manager John Alexander polled commissioners individually by phone Friday, asking whether they would be willing to sweeten the pot for Hemann.
At least three commissioners agreed to the $87,000 salary, Millard said.
That's still less than the $91,800 that former city manager Chris Dorsey was making when he was fired in October.
Millard said the city was inviting Hemann, his wife and his son to visit Red Bank between Christmas and the New Year. During that time, Millard said, officials would continue negotiations and consider "lining up performance goals" with Hemann.
City Attorney Arnold Stulce said the polling process was for negotiation purposes only and was "absolutely not binding."
He said any contractual agreement would have be voted on in a public meeting.
The commission's next scheduled meeting is Jan. 3. By that time, Commissioner Greg Jones' Dec. 20 resignation will be effective.
Millard said he hoped city officials would have a better sense of direction Monday.
"We're moving ahead, but it is not a done deal yet," he said.