Members of the council expressed concern about what they said was a lack of time to properly review the biographies and qualifications of each of the semifinalists. The list includes current Interim City Manager George Lahanas and Director of Public Works Todd Sneathen, as well as candidates from Arizona and Illinois.

The council began initial discussions regarding the candidates as of press time, but a formal decision is expected to be reached today.

Councilmember Vic Loomis said based on his past experience choosing top city officials, there was
not enough opportunity to properly sort through each of the candidates’ biographies during the work session.

The council took a roughly one-hour break to review the list of semifinalists and their qualifications before voting to push their final decision to Wednesday night.

“I read (any information related to the hiring of city officials) from sentence one to the last sentence,” he said. “I have not been able to do that here.”

Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplett said while he was not opposed to holding additional deliberations, he feared it might be unfair to each of the candidates.

“To go give some candidates another bite at the apple, that raises a concern for me,” he said.

The list was compiled by executive search firm Affion Public, which narrowed its list of recommendations down to nine using multiple rounds of background checks and interviews. The job opening received 56 total applications.

Scott Reilly, CEO of Affion Public, told the council the list includes a varied and balanced range of candidates who have worked in both large and small cities.

Seven of the semifinalists are city managers or village administrators in Michigan towns, including Darnell Earley, the city manager of Saginaw, Mich.

Sean McBride, the chief information officer for the city of Tucson, Az., and Brian Murphy, the village administrator of Plainfield, Ill., were the only two out-of-state semifinalists.

Earley was responsible for managing a total budget of about $136 million during his time in Saginaw, Reilly told the council.

MSU alumnus and current Parchment, Mich., City Manager Dennis Durham also was among the semifinalists.

Reilly told council members Durham’s work in Parchment stood out, but said Lahanas has put himself in an excellent position through his work with the city.

“He’s been working toward this (opportunity) his whole career,” he said.

Once the council reaches a decision regarding finalists, the candidates are slated to be invited back to East Lansing to participate in a community reception on Jan. 25 followed by a series of round-robin interviews with city staff Jan. 26. The city hopes to appoint its new city manager by the end of the month.