Council Hires Headhunter for City Manager Search

The voted Tuesday to hire an executive recruitment firm to facilitate the search for Monrovia's next city manager.

City Manager Scott Ochoa tendered his resignation earlier this month after being , and the city to take over in January until a permanent replacement can be found.

The council awarded a $23,500 contract for recruitment services to Bob Murray & Associates, the same firm that handled the recruitment process that led to Ochoa's appointment in Monrovia seven years ago.

The city will need to hire an interim city manager to handle the city's affairs as the months-long search by Bob Murray & Associates progresses, Ochoa said.

The good news is that there is a large pool of "range riders"--retired city managers who specialize in taking over cities temporarily--to choose from, Ochoa said. The city has already received some unsolicited resumes for the interim position, he said.

"You will have quite the pick of the litter," Ochoa told the council.

Ochoa said the city could have a candidate for the full-time position identified by February. If that person is a city manager or staff member elsewhere, he or she would have to provide 60 days notice as Ochoa did, making it likely that the interim manager will serve until at least May 2012.

The search could be delayed even further if the successful candidate is engrossed in a budget process, Ochoa said.

"If the person from outside the organization is a sitting city manager type … who is going through a budget in their own city, they may not be able to leave that process until June or later," he said.