LEWISTON — The city has hired a firm to help lead the search for a new city administrator, a process that is slated to take between two and three months.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to select Eaton Peabody Consulting Group to lead the effort nearly three months after former City Administrator Heather Hunter announced her resignation.

Don Gerrish, who leads the consulting group’s municipal management services team, worked for nearly 40 years managing a number of Maine communities, including Gorham and Brunswick.

According to the proposal, he has helped roughly 50 municipalities and government entities perform manager searches, and has several times served as interim town or city manager while conducting a search, including in Auburn.

The council considered proposals from three firms, which also included KMA Human Resources Consulting. Councilors largely agreed on selecting Eaton Peabody due to the overall cost coming in less than the other two proposals, but also based on Gerrish’s experience in Maine.

The proposed fee is $10,000, plus reimbursement of direct expenses, with an established timeline of roughly two to three months before an administrator is named.

Councilor Josh Nagine led the effort to obtain bids for the search, which also involved Council President Scott Harriman and Mayor Carl Sheline.

Nagine said he supported the proposal from Gerrish not only due to the cost but because of his experience and proposed process.

“He’s somebody who knows both the market and what we would be looking for in a good applicant,” Nagine said, adding that he also trusts Gerrish will help find someone who will stay around. “I think three times in the last 20 years we hired someone who left within a year or two.”

Nagine said the other two proposals involve creating a marketing component that are essentially “advertising packages for the city,” which explain the higher cost but are something he feels aren’t needed.

Councilor Tim Gallant said he’s concerned that Gerrish’s reach isn’t enough to attract true nationwide candidates, but other councilors disagreed.

“The value of hiring a firm is to evaluate the candidates,” Sheline said. “As the second-largest city in Maine, I don’t think we’re going to have a dearth of applicants.”

Others said they can make it clear to Gerrish that they’d like to expand the search as broadly as possible.

“I don’t want to limit our search but I think with his experience helping several municipalities in Maine find an administrator, he probably has a good network,” Harriman said.

Members of the public had other concerns, including the process used up until this point. Some said it’s taking too long, while others said more of the decision-making power should fall to the public.

During public comment, resident Matt Roy said that with the administrator position being vacant for the past three months, “the fact that we’re just getting to this now is concerning.”

He said the city could have had the job posted already and had applicants, instead of potentially going six months without a permanent administrator.

“It feels like an inefficient process at this point,” he said.

When Hunter resigned in late March, the council named Brian O’Malley the acting administrator. Nagine said he’s hoping O’Malley applies for the job, but said, “He probably wants to go back to deputy as quickly as possible.”

“Things like this take time. We’re not in a crisis here,” Sheline said. “We have a deputy who is doing a fantastic job and we can do this right.”

Former Councilor Linda Scott, who posted a lengthy statement about the process Wednesday, said instead of choosing the three firms on their own, the council should have held a public workshop regarding the proposals.

Then, she said, a committee that includes members of the public should be formed to work with the selected firm “to look at the applicants and help determine who best meets the vision for moving our city forward.”

“This committee should not just solely consist of the City Council and mayor,” she said. “We need to do this right, the city and current City Council cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes of the previous council that hired our last administrator. We must learn or we are doomed to repeat.”

During the meeting, at least one councilor asked if members of the public would be involved in the process.

Nagine said part of Gerrish’s proposal is to hold public meetings.

According to his proposal, the process would include “developing a format that allows citizens and employees to have input into the personal characteristics, education, traits, and experience that the new City Administrator should possess.”

Hunter submitted her resignation March 28 following weeks of controversy that stemmed from the temporary closure of DaVinci’s Eatery and the decision to part ways with former Code Enforcement Director David Hediger. The issues set off several other staff departures and claims that the turnover was directly related to Hunter’s management style.

The separation agreement between Hunter and the council includes the city paying her six months salary at $76,771.

Hunter was named city administrator in the fall of 2021 after the council conducted a search while Hunter was serving as interim administrator. Hunter had been part of an interim leadership team that was promoted after former City Administrator Denis D’Auteuil and former Deputy City Administrator Dale Doughty left the city during the summer of 2021. That was also when O’Malley became interim deputy administrator.

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