Bristol, Va. city council updates search for city manager

BRISTOL, Va. – City leaders plan to interview prospective city manager candidates early next month, but may not fill the impending vacancy until next year.

Meeting in called session Monday behind closed doors, the City Council received an update on the search process and resumes of possible candidates from John Anzivino, senior vice president of executive search firm Springsted.

“We’ll meet next week to narrow down the list of applicants to the ones we want to interview,” Mayor Jim Rector said after the meeting.

“Our goal, at this point, is to do interviews Dec. 2, 3 and 4. Hopefully, we can bring in four to six candidates at that time.”

In early July, current City Manager Bill Dennison announced plans to retire at year’s end. The council hired Springsted, which has an office in Richmond and previously did work for the city, in mid-September.

The vacancy attracted more than 60 applicants and Anzivino gave council members information about all who cleared the search firm’s first round of vetting.

“We have some excellent candidates. It’s very pleasing to have the caliber of experience interested in this job,” Rector said.

After a first round of interviews in early December, city leaders may opt to conduct a second round with finalists, Rector said.

“There may be two or three [candidates] we’ll want to bring back, but we’re right ere at the holidays, so we’ve got to be mindful of the time element for everyone. Hopefully, we can get this done by the end of December, but a new city manager may not be able to start then.”

The timing of the search and Dennison’s Dec. 31 departure could combine to create a gap – if a replacement doesn’t start in January.

“It’s highly possible we’ll be without a manager Jan. 1,” Rector said. “Bill cannot work in January, because of the conditions of his [state and federal] retirement. So we could go 30 days without.”

Dennison said he would remain available to help if the post isn’t filled. Under the terms of accessing his Social Security and Virginia Retirement System benefits, however, he must be off the job for 30 days.

“If they [council] need me to come back, it would be as a contract, hourly employee without any benefits. And they may choose not to do that,” Dennison said.

Leaving the position vacant for a few weeks “isn’t as bad as it sounds,” Dennison said.

“There are safeguards in place if the city manager is off sick or because of an accident,” Dennison said. “The mayor can sign all documents the city manager can sign and the city department heads are perfectly capable of handling the routine business for 30 days.”

Typically, city leaders begin the budget process in January and February for the fiscal year that begins in July. Policy decisions could require council action, but they typically meet twice monthly.

Dennison said no council member has asked if he could serve on an interim basis.

“I don’t think they’re going to, until and unless they get further along in the process,” Dennison said. “If I were to come back in February, it is my strong desire to only work for two months. I don’t want to stay until July.”

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