New Ottawa city manager to be recommended to council June 9

Ottawa City Hall. (File photo)

The firm hired to find a new manager for the city of Ottawa will be presenting its secret list of candidates to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and a panel of three councillors this coming week.

Odgers Berndtson was hired in February to assist the search for a new top bureaucrat after Steve Kanellakos's sudden departure days before the scathing inquiry report into Stage 1 of LRT was released.

Wendy Stephanson has served as interim city manager since Kanellakos's departure.

Odgers Berndtson posted its advertisement for the new city manager job on March 8. Applications were open until April 14.

A new report prepared for the City Manager Hiring Panel says that Odgers Berndtson's long list of candidates is ready and will be presented to the panel on Friday.

The list will be kept confidential and meetings of the hiring panel will be held in camera. Members of the panel—Sutcliffe and councillors Catherine Kitts, Shawn Menard, and Tim Tierney—will be tasked with narrowing down the list of candidates for the first round of interviews, which will take place May 19.

The first round of interviews will be conducted virtually, the report states.

Once the first round is complete, a shortlist of preferred candidates will undergo a second round of interviews on June 2 and will undergo background and reference checks. The second round will be held in-person at an unspecified off-site location.

The recommended candidate will be presented to council for approval on June 9. The hiring panel will also rise and report a summary of its in camera activities at that time.

The city manager is considered Ottawa's highest bureaucrat, and "exercises general control and management of the affairs of the municipality for the purpose of ensuring the efficient and effective operation of the municipality," a staff report for the hiring panel says. Staff say the city manager also, "provides effective liaison between council and city staff, committees of council, elected representatives, as well as local boards, commissions and agencies."

The job summary for the city manager states the successful candidate should be proficient in English and French. The city manager position includes a salary range of $270,488 to $392,655.

Under the provincial government's Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, Sutcliffe had the authority to choose a new city manager himself, but he delegated that authority to council. The report prepared for this Friday's meeting of the hiring panel says Sutcliffe will be seeking input from all members of council on what qualities they would like to see in a city manager. 

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Josh Pringle.