Progress Made in City Manager Search

The City Council is expecting to start to review potential candidates to take the Newport City Manager’s job by mid-May.

Randi Frank, of Randi Frank Consulting, the firm hired to conduct the search, said in an e-mail to city officials that 17 resumes have been received so far and they expect a minimum of 10 more before the April 27 deadline.

The search has entailed sending 300 emails out to advertising the position and postings on the ICMA and Mass. Municipal Association. The Connecticut City Managers group also sent notice to all their members.

Emails were sent to all New England states, including several Northeast states like New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

“We are now focusing on the Midwest since the southern states usually don’t have labor relations,” Frank said.

If things continue as planned, Frank said he expects to provide the council with a list of semifinal candidates in executive session by mid-May.

The City Council began their search after former City Manager Jane Howington resigned last summer to take a job in Ohio.

Longtime City Solicitor Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. has been acting City Manager ever since.