What Do You Want in North Kingstown's Next Town Manager?

Before the Town Council decides on who should next serve North Kingstown as its new Town Manager, they have to decide which search firm will be hired to conduct the search.

On Aug., 20, the Town Council will vote on awarding a contract to one of four bidders:

• GovHR USA, of Northbrook, Ill.
• The Novak Consulting Group, of Cincinnati, Ohio
• Strategic Government Resources, of Keller, Texas
• Randi Frank Consulting, of Wallingford, Conn.

Each firm’s response to the town’s request for proposals for search consulting services are reportedly close in terms of cost and timeline.

Outgoing Town Manager Michael Embury is leaving Sept. 30 after accepting a job offer to lead the town of Brewster, Mass.

North Kingstown has not needed to look for a new manager for eight years and it presents an opportunity to start anew.

Embury said that he loved working in North Kingstown but had been looking to move on to different pastures for some time. It’s no secret that North Kingstown is a challenging place for a manager to work as the Town Council historically has sat in the driver’s seat. While in other towns the council often acts as a rubber-stamp for the administration, in North Kingstown, the reverse is often true.

The next Town Manager certainly will need a thick skin to survive in North Kingstown, a trait that Embury repeatedly showed as he responded to criticism, especially over the past year.

And he or she will find a town with a lot of promise and opportunity for growth. Quonset is booming, the bond rating is strong and long-planned infrastructure projects are in progress.

So what do you want in the next Town Manager? And check out the different search firms. Is there any one that stands out?