By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – After months of searching followed by extensive interviews that involved many in the community – the Yachats city council decided Thursday not to hire anyone for the soon-to-be vacant city manager position.
“After a rigorous evaluation that included input from the public, expert panels, local leader panels (and) staff, we have decided that we did not have a candidate that had the right combination of municipal experience and community fit,” Mayor Craig Berdie read in a statement that followed nearly four hours of council deliberations. “We’ve therefore decided to not move forward with our selection.”
Instead, the council will ask its Portland-based recruiting firm, Jensen Strategies, to assist in a study of city manager compensation and re-start its search in January.
A monkey wrench was thrown into the process when Benjamin Bergener, the manager of the eastern Oregon city of Stanfield, withdrew from consideration. He was the only finalist with city manager experience.
Berdie thanked the candidates, council members, city staff, panels and the community for the time and care they invested in the process. And assured those involved in the search that the council will continue to seek the best person for the job.
The council’s vote to suspend its search was 3-1, with Catherine Whitten-Carey voting no. Councilor Greg Scott left before the vote to attend a previously scheduled engagement.
In addition to Bergener, the other two finalists were Bobbi Price, executive director of the Yachats Chamber of Commerce, and Jeanne Colvin, the regional coordinator/liaison for the Washington State Department of Health.
While deliberations surrounding the decision not to hire anyone took place in executive (closed) session, the four-hour discussion hinted at disagreement among council members.
“I think we were not all on the same page,” said Whitten-Carey in acknowledgment of her vote not to suspend the search. “I think everybody’s thoughts were very valid. I think people were very frank. The two important prongs were municipal experience and interpersonal and community-communication skills, and all the candidates missed some on one of those prongs.
“We had people that definitely had strong abilities and competencies and have demonstrated that people part, that knowing how to bring people together,” Whitten-Carey continued. “And I feel that the municipal part can be learned. But other people were hesitant.”
One of council’s big concerns with not filling the position is that interim city manager Rick Sant has made clear his last day will be Nov. 1. Jensen Strategies has agreed to step into the breach.
“We plan to assist the city to find an interim and if at all possible make sure all the responsibilities of the city are covered in the meantime, until they are able to find someone for the permanent position,” said Amelia Wallace, who has been leading the search for Jensen.
Jensen may find that help through the Oregon City Managers Association. And Wallace headed to the League of Oregon Cities fall conference in Eugene shortly after the council’s vote Thursday afternoon.
Berdie later told YachatsNews all three candidates received support from community members in surveys they turned in following roundtable discussions Monday night.
“People felt that all three of them had strengths and weaknesses,” said Berdie, who did not want to comment about the details of what council heard from the other panels. “When we looked at the aggregate of information from the city manager panel and from the staff from city leaders, it painted a complete picture for us and we got a lot of input from a lot of sources … And when we looked at it as a whole, that’s what drove us to our decision.”
Berdie concluded by saying the panels were “tremendously helpful,” to which Scott agreed when contacted by phone later in the day.
Scott said he’s lost track of how many times he’s been through the process to find a city manager but said this was the best in terms of the technical support provided by Jensen.
“One thing that was new was they added a step in terms of feedback from the community, but they focused on community leaders,” Scott said. “These were business people and kind of the movers and shakers in town, people that work closely with the city and have a particularly unique opportunity to comment because they understand the demands of the organization from sort of the strategic perspective that most citizens don’t ever encounter.
“And in terms of the feedback portion, their feedback was probably the most influential,” he added, saying that it was a good-sized group “who operate at the upper levels of decision making.”
Scott did not feel the council was deeply divided in their deliberations, which he described as tending to reflect the experience provided by longer-serving members.
When Bergener withdrew from consideration was not disclosed by Jensen or council members, nor any specific details why.
“I know that he withdrew,” Berdie said when reached by phone Thursday evening. “We were simply told it was not the right opportunity for his family. That’s about all we know.”
In 2022 Bergener turned down a job offer to become Warrenton’s city manager. He told Yachats’ community members Monday that during that interview process he decided it was not a good fit.
Cost of search
The city signed a contract and paid Jensen Strategies $25,000 this summer to recruit candidates for the manager position after the resignation of former city manager Heide Lambert whose 15-month tenure ended June 1.
The recruiting firm received high marks from the council for their work. It won’t re-advertise the position again until after the New Year because it believes a better candidate pool will be available after the holidays.
The city will have to sign a new contract and pay Jensen an additional fee, but Wallace said it would be at a reduced rate starting from the application window. Also up for discussion, is how the previous salary range for the position fits into the Yachats’ market, she said.
Wallace told the YachatsNews it is not uncommon that a candidate is not found in the first go round, but also told the council after its announcement that – “We are in a couple of middle-ground scenarios we don’t always end up in.”
In addition to Jensen’s fees, the city is on the hook to pay travel expenses along with room and board for the finalists.
“All direct costs will be repeated again,” Berdie said. “So advertising costs in a variety of publications, flights to any finalists candidates and the expenses of bringing people in.”
But he added the city will not be starting from scratch.
“We’re not changing any of the profile, city description, all that stuff,” he said in reference to Jensen’s recruitment package. “That’s all in the bag.”
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
This is unbelievable.
Yachats city leaders continue to seek a “unicorn” leader, and continue to remain completely dysfunctional.
So how much more money will wasted by our dysfunctional city council before this is over?
I agree!
Either Jensen brought a flawed candidate to the council for consideration, or Bergener saw the situation here and said, “I cant work for this circus.” Either way, it is not a good look for the city. What serious candidate with both “municipal experience” and “community-communication skills,” would want to come here given our track record with city managers? Finding the perfect candidate to step into this chaos is not going to happen, and now the city is rudderless again, for at least the next six months; leaving city staff without direction. It will almost certainly affect morale, slow down the work of the city, and frustrate its citizens. Bobbi Price has a love for Yachats and its people, she has roots here (Waldport) and will be here for the long haul. She is personable and passionate, has built relationships with local business and communities leaders, and has earned their trust. She has proven herself with every job she has taken on. She has a willingness to learn, and had already secured the help of mentors and had registered for training. Surely she could have been hired on in a “trial” basis, or the city could have offered to help her to get her certification. Our current interim manager was a newspaper manager, and had only lived here three years prior to being hired, but has performed admirably, taking great strides to right the ship, restore moral, and get work done. I believe Ms. Price would have done the same.
For the record – While I do agree with some of the statements made above by Bob, I’d like it to known that the Bob who wrote this is not me = Bob Langley.
Very well said Bob.
It seems a wise decision for the time being. Better to take time to hire the right person with city manager experience. It seems due diligence is being taken.
I may be proven wrong, but several years of evidence suggest that if the City wants to convince someone with the experience and career goals they’re looking for to commit to relocating to a small coastal town with limited housing options and family amenities, they’re going to need to budget a much, much more competitive salary for the position.
My first thought after reading the article is why. Why does Yachats need a city manager in the first place? In my little town, population 4225, we have a mayor. She has a support group, but she’s all by herself. Yachats, population 1032, also has a mayor and a support group. Just something to think about.
Is mayor a paid position in your town? Is there a paid city administrator of some sort?
(I don’t mean this to sound snarky. This is a genuine question.)
I don’t live in the city so I don’t have a say in this. I’ve been out of touch so long I only know one member of the council, someone I have nothing but respect for. From the outside looking in it seems obvious that the decision to have a paid city manager has made the city much more difficult to operate. Undoing that should be on the table just like finding the right candidate. The folks from Jensen must be really nice. For $25,000 they found one candidate who backed out and facilitated a meeting. They still got praise and apparently will get more money. Maybe without paying a city manager and search firms Yachats could finally stop being one of the only cities in the state that taxes food.