The Bainbridge Island City Council will hold a study session tonight in what looks to be another very brief meeting.
The meeting is only scheduled for a mere one hour, and begins at 5:30 p.m. The session will include a briefing on the city manager search — a briefing that has now become a regular weekly agenda item at council meetings.
The briefing will discuss the invitation of executive search firms to come speak with the council. The council previously expressed the desire to meet face-to-face with representatives from the firms and interview them for the job.
The search firm presentations are expected to be scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 10 in the council chambers. Four out of the five firms that the council favored are expected to be present. The finalists for the executive search are the Mercer Group, Waters Consulting Group, Affion Public, Prothman and Strategic Government Resources.
The city manager search ad hoc committee, consisting of Councilwoman Anne Blair, Councilman Steve Bonkowski and Councilman David Ward, will also submit a recommendation for an interim city manager.
Bonkowski said that the ad hoc committee has been meeting over the phone while Blair has been out of town. He will read a statement from Blair during the briefing.
No decisions will be made regarding the interim city manager, however. The discussion will be forwarded to the next council meeting.
Bonkowski said that two council members will be absent from tonight’s meeting — Blair and Councilman Bob Scales — and they want to wait until all members are present to have an in-depth discussion on the topic.
“The big discussion on the interim city manager will be next week,” Bonkowski said.
“Bob has some pretty strong views and we want to make sure he is included,” he said.
Tonight the council will also consider an ordinance to appoint an individual other than the council mayor to serve on board of commissioners for Housing Kitsap.
Other cities, such as Poulsbo and Port Orchard, are expected to pass similar ordinances.
Other topics include construction at the senior center, a stormwater grant and an Arbor Day proclamation.
