City Manager Janice Casteel listens as Larry Wallace speaks to the Cleveland City Council about the state of the police department during a meeting Monday, June 22, 2015 at Cleveland City Hall.
City Manager Janice Casteel listens as Larry Wallace speaks to the Cleveland City Council about the state of the police department during a meeting Monday, June 22, 2015 at Cleveland City Hall.Cleveland Assistant City Manager Melinda Carroll will serve as interim city manager effective June 1.
City Manager Janice Casteel will retire from a 42-year career with Cleveland, effective May 31. She has been the city manager since 2007.
A citizen advisory committee has recommended five candidates to be considered for Cleveland's top administrative post: Angie Carrier, Joe Fivas, Mark Reeter, Seth Sumner and Julie Underwood. They were among 63 applicants who responded to a nationwide search conducted by The Mercer Group on behalf of Cleveland.
On Monday, the City Council voted 6-1 in favor of appointing Carroll to the interim post for up to 90 days. Councilman Avery Johnson cast the only "no" vote, previously citing concerns that the council could drag out the decision and "muddy the waters."
Johnson's comments were made following complaints by Vice Mayor George Poe, who said he was unhappy that no local applicants made the cut and cautioned that the city manager decision could take months.
"I know it's hard for us to agree on a lot of things, let alone a city manager," Poe said.
Sumner, who is a native of Riceville, Tenn., is the closest thing to a local candidate.
"The only thing I can say, respectfully, is the members of the [advisory] committee are those you nominated," consultant Larry Wallace told the council in response to concerns about the lack of local candidates. "They're your representatives."
Wallace serves as a facilitator with the committee and assisted Cleveland with its police chief search last year.
Councilman Richard Banks raised the possibility of adding more names to the candidate pool for consideration, but Councilmen Bill Estes and David May opposed the idea.
The City Council "will get crucified" if it goes with someone outside the five recommended candidates, May said.
Banks said he was "not necessarily in favor of that," but also questioned whether any of the five would get enough votes to be appointed.
The City Council also voted 7-0 for Wallace to conduct extensive background searches on the five candidates and asked him to report his findings within two weeks, if possible.
All of the candidates have city or county administration experience.
Carrier has 16 years of municipal experience within Tennessee and currently serves as the development services director for Johnson City. Fivas has served in government leadership positions for 19 years in towns in Michigan and Indian Trail, N.C. Reeter has worked 19 years as a county administrator in Virginia, most recently for Bedford County. Sumner has served for the last four years as the assistant city manager for Savannah, Tenn., and held the city manager post in Clifton, Tenn., between 2010 and 2012. Underwood is currently the assistant city manager for Daly City, Calif., and has served in leadership positions in Washington and Maryland over a 16-year period.
Interviews of the five candidates can be viewed on the Cleveland government website.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com.