By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Yachats City Manager Shannon Beaucaire is taking the same position with the city of Carlton, it’s just not certain yet when she will leave one city and start work in the other.
Although she was named the lone finalist for the job two weeks ago, Beaucaire and Carlton Mayor Linda Watkins announced her hiring Wednesday, after a formal vote Tuesday night by the Carlton City Council.
Beaucaire’s contract in Yachats requires her to give 60 days notice before leaving. She gave that Wednesday to Mayor Leslie Vaaler.
Vaaler told YachatsNews that notice started “very preliminary talks” about Beaucaire’s transition out of the position.
“It’s fair to say that she has expressed some desire to be available and also use some vacation time,” Vaaler said.
Beaucaire said Wednesday that she and Vaaler had talked and started the discussion about a transition.
“The mayor and I have talked and they’re beginning to consider what a variety of options might look like,” Beaucaire said.
When many cities in Oregon lose their top administrator they often go through the League of Oregon Cities to see about an interim manager for 3-6 months. The league has a roster of former or retired managers who are willing to step in for short periods of time while a city conducts a search and hires a new person.
Other times, a city can look for an interim on its own. Unless there is an in-house replacement, most cities also use governmental hiring services to advertise for and screen applicants.
On Thursday, council members decided to schedule a special online meeting for 1 p.m. Monday to discuss the city manager vacancy and other personnel issues.
Beaucaire had been Yachats’ city manager since October 2017. Yachats was Beaucaire’s first city manager job, coming from New Mexico where she operated a mediation and consulting business, was statewide manager for the New Mexico Supreme Court and a manager in the city of Albuquerque’s legal department.
33 applicants, four finalists in Carlton
Carlton is a town of 2,300 just north of McMinnville in Yamhill County. It has 14 employees, including a four-member police department, and a yearly budget of $20 million – double that of Yachats’.
The Carlton City Council announced in December that Beaucaire and three others were finalists for the job, and held a public open house, interviews and then an executive session in mid-January after which it announced she was the lone finalist.
Carlton was seeking a new top administrative officer to replace a city manager who resigned last July after two years in the job.
In a new release Wednesday announcing Beaucaire’s selection, Carlton said the selection process began last fall with the city’s retention of Portland-based consultant, Jensen and Associates Strategies. Thirty-three applicants responded to the initial announcement.
“This wasn’t a simple process or an easy decision,” said Watkins. “Jensen Strategies brought us a number of very qualified candidates, and those folks went through a series of intensive interviews with neighboring city managers, city staff and department heads and city residents as well as the City Council.”
Watkins said Beaucaure’s “small-town experience, background in the law, and certification in alternative dispute resolution will be great attributes as our city confronts various challenges this year.”