Henderson council to pick new city manager Monday

Henderson won’t have a new city manager until next week.

After more than three hours of public interviews with six finalists Thursday, City Council members said they wanted the weekend to think.

They will return at 5 p.m. Monday to publicly debate and decide on their choice.

The city manager, who reports to the council, leads the government’s day-to-day operations.

Finalists said they were given a list of 11 questions ahead of time, and council members asked them in turn, sprinkling in a few unplanned questions.

Topics included how they would deal with conflicting direction from different elected officials, a time they did not lead well and what they learned from it, how they would tackle the city’s finances and how they would keep the city safe.

A video of the meeting will be archived at cityofhenderson.com/city-clerk.

The finalists also had private one-on-one meetings with council members and department heads this week.

After the interviews Thursday, council members agreed they were not ready to make a decision. One, John Marz, said he had narrowed the six down two two or three favorites, whom he declined to name.

Councilwoman Debra March said she wants to hear what city employees think of the finalists. Mayor Andy Hafen said he hopes residents call or email him and other council members over the weekend.

Two finalists are already with the city: Fire Chief Steve Goble and Robert Murnane, the senior director of public works, parks and recreation. Two are deputy city managers in Las Vegas: Scott Adams and Orlando Sanchez.

And two are from out of state: Ronald Olson, the city manager in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Steven Sarkozy, who has led cities in Minnesota, Washington and California.

Contact Eric Hartley at ehartley@reviewjournal.com or 702-550-9229. Find him on Twitter: @ethartley.