CHICKASHA – The search for yet another city manager has caused some concern among city leaders.
Keith Johnson, the city’s chief executive officer for almost two years, announced his resignation last month. He is moving back to Washington state for personal and professional reasons, he said.
The City Council voted Oct. 7 to hire SGR again in its quest to hire yet another city manager – the eighth in nine years. The Keller, Texas, company will be paid up to $35,000 for its work.
“Is this process working for us?” Councilwoman Kea of turnover in our city managers. I understand the need” for a professional recruiter “but I’m leery of the results we’ve had in the past.”
“We made a poor choice” before hiring Johnson, Mayor Zach Grayson said. “That was on us,” not SGR.
Chickasha previously retained Strategic Government Resources in its recruitment of a new city manager in 2021. That relationship didn’t last long and Johnson was hired as the successor in September 2022, although he didn’t assume his duties at City Hall until November 2022.
“You’ve been a very good fit, sir,” Councilwoman Georgianne Hebblethwaite said to Johnson.
SGR also assisted in the city manager recruitment efforts of Duncan and Miami, Oklahoma, and Topeka, Kansas, this year; Stillwater in 2023; and Joplin, Missouri, in 2020. During the past five years SGR has helped scores of municipalities in 17 states – extending from Alaska to New York and ranging in population from 3,000 to 622,000 – in their recruitment of administrators, records indicate.
Using a nationwide recruiting service such as SGR is a necessity because Chickasha “has a reputation,” Assistant City Manager Rachel Bernish said. “It would be hard for us to hire a person for that post just in Oklahoma.”
“We don’t have the reach to find” the right person for that job, Grayson said. “That’s why we should go with SGR.”
The company said Chickasha’s job opening would be announced in SGR’s leadership newsletter, which is distributed to more than 40,000 subscribers in all 50 states. The company will send targeted emails to more than 5,000 subscribers of SGR’s City Management Job Alerts. The position will be announced on the company’s website and posted on its Job Board, and SGR will perform “a comprehensive social media marketing campaign.”
Ginn noted that the process of advertising for candidates and conducting interviews will span three or more months.
“The timeline for face-toface interviews is estimated at 12-15 weeks from approval of the agreement,” the company informed the councilors. SGR will complete an assessment on the top two or three candidates, perhaps as many as five or ten, evaluating their “management style, strengths, etc.”
SGR “does a lot of the legwork” for its clients, Johnson said.
Johnson may be gone before his replacement is hired. He offered to stay through the end of the year to “get the new person up to speed” on city policies, procedures, projects and personnel, but said he begins his new duties “after the first of the year.”
Fortunately, Grayson said, the City of Chickasha has a solid, experienced leadership team in place.