FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont City Council hopes to make a decision on who will be the next city manager by the end of the month.
All three candidates visited the Friendly City Wednesday for a tour of the city, meetings with department heads and more interviews with city council.
Those candidates — Jonathan Board, Bill Lanham, and Valerie Means.
“We agreed that someone who understood our culture was someone we were looking for, and all three have West Virginia ties,” Fairmont Mayor Brad Merrifield said.
“One individual lives in Fairmont and has lived here all his life,” Merrifield said. “Another individual is from the southern part of the state and wants to get back into this area. The third person was from the northern part of the state, even though she currently works out of state, but she wants to get back in state, which seems to be a popular thing for people. Once they leave here, they want to come back.”
It was important to Merrifield that the next choice for city manager have roots in West Virginia, both as a hope for longevity in the position and as a benefit within the role itself.
“We are different — in a good way — in West Virginia, and for people that don’t understand that, they have a learning curve that sometimes they may never get over. It’s a very significant point, along with the experience factor, I think, is very important,” he said.
Two of the final candidates are currently city managers elsewhere. The third, Merrifield said, is a “well-documented executive.
“So we have three excellent, excellent choices,” he said.
Skype interviews were conducted with the candidates last week.
By bringing the three candidates in, Merrifield hoped it would be a great opportunity to learn more about the individuals.
“We have a very thorough, in-depth plan. I think it’s very organized,” he said. “We really hope to peel the onion and find out as much as anybody can in an interviewing process.”
Council now has until its meeting Tuesday to digest the day’s information before making any decisions — a decision that Merrifield said is vitally important for the city of Fairmont’s current position.
“Fairmont is ready to take off, we think, and we just want to seat a qualified pilot to fly this plane,” he said. “We’re kind of a well-kept secret, and we’re about to let some other people in on the secret.”