Next week, the City Council will decide whether or not to employ a search firm to find the next city manager, a step that represents the beginning of a process to find a permanent replacement for Mark Dombroski, who resigned his post last October.

At Wednesday’s study session, the majority of council favored hiring a search firm over recruiting candidates in-house. Part of the reason for that, said Mayor Bob Scales, is that the city currently is without a human resources director, the person normally in charge of such a search.

A search firm proves a more expensive recruiting option, but interim Deputy City Manager Stan McNutt said using a search firm will attract superior candidates. Hiring an outside service to recruit candidates brings in more than just the people who are looking for a job in city management, McNutt said.

McNutt said both he and interim City Manager Lee Walton have been recruited to cities almost entirely through search firms.

“We have almost never been seeking an opportunity in our careers,” McNutt said. “We were sought out by a search firm to make those changes.”

The job of finding a temporary replacement came easier to the council. During the process of negotiating with a search firm, Walton emerged as a primary candidate. A former city engineer with the city, Walton had experience on Bainbridge. Walton brought along McNutt, who he worked with in several changes of government and formations of new cities.

Throughout their time at the city, McNutt and Walton have worked to implement the change of government that voters passed overwhelmingly last year. McNutt, whose contract was set to expire at the end of January, was recently extended until the end of March while he worked with the council on installing new protocol for the council-manager form of government.

Should the council decide to use a search firm, it will then spend time choosing a firm for the job.

“In my experience, selecting a search firm is almost as important as selecting the job candidate,” Scales said.