A months-long search for a new City Manager for East Ridge will come to a head on Monday, as two finalists for the position will be interviewed by members of the City Council.

Count ’em … two. I maintain that’s not much of a choice for the members of the council. 

When the city put out a press release announcing the two finalists, Kevin Owens, a city administrator in Fayetteville, Tenn., and Michael Powers, a former county administrative officer in Hanford, California, via Alaska, it was met with groans on social media by some residents of East Ridge.

Nothing against either man, but public sentiment seemed to be that anyone from California is a non-starter. If my arithmetic is correct, that leaves one man standing. That ain’t much of a choice for our council to make for such an important hire. 

Word on the street is that some council members aren’t too happy about this whole situation.

Apparently the search for the person to replace City Manager Scott Miller, who has capably served in this capacity longer than most, began with more than two dozen resumes being submitted to a three person committee. That committee was comprised of Miller, the city’s Human Resource Director, Michelle Sinigaglio, and an official from the University of Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Advisory Service.

How the committee got from 29 to two is unclear. In the interest of full disclosure, information obtained by East Ridge News Online reveals that actually five finalists were put forward. Two were eliminated because of “salary requirements,” and a third won’t be interviewed by council members because that person is being interviewed the same day for a position in Texas.

I’m relatively sure that at some point in recent years, the council signed off on allowing a committee to do the preliminary work in identifying candidates in this manner for this post. That will give cover for the administration when and if someone on the council raises an objection to not really having much of a choice in this instance.

I for one would urge the council if they aren’t pleased with the two candidates before them on Monday to insist on starting over or at least for the committee to reconsider the people who they’ve eliminated.

After all, the city manager works for the council, right?

The council deserves that much and so do the citizens of East Ridge.