Council Plans Public Interviews for City Manager After Top Choice Backs Out

The East Providence City Council will be holding two public interviews to select a new city manager, Mayor Bruce Rogers told Patch Wednesday by phone. Both interviews will be held at City Hall and will last one hour each, with the first taking place this Friday at 5 pm. The second candidate will be interviewed next Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 pm.

Last week, the council a top candidate for the job, though Rogers and other council members were tight-lipped about the process, given the closed nature of the meeting and its sealed minutes. Rogers said by phone that council had "selected a city manager and were about to offer a contract." However, since then, that person decided not to pursue the position.

Rogers would not elaborate on why the person backed out, saying only that the issue is "confidential."

Rogers, who has previously stated that he does not favor a public hiring process, said he is happy to move forward in a more transparent way, but he did reiterate his initial concerns about candidate privacy.

"After a conversation with the council, we all agreed that we're in the last stages, we [should] bring them forward, almost as an introduction," Rogers said. "Either one of these candidates is our choice, so let's bring them forward to present them to the people."

Rogers said that the vote to select one of the two applicants will "probably not" be public and will occur in private session. Rogers would not yet identify the two candidates.