Whitefish restarts search for city manager

The city of Whitefish is starting over with its search for a city manager.

The City Council met in executive session Friday morning and unanimously decided to re-advertise the position. The selection process is expected to continue through the end of the year.

Last week the council’s top choice to replace retiring Chuck Stearns as city manager — Bozeman Assistant City Manager Chuck Winn — turned down the job after several days of negotiations.

Another top finalist, Libby native Ken Decker, who is a county administrator in Maryland, withdrew his application because he didn’t feel the Whitefish job was a good fit for him, and he would have had to take a substantial pay cut to return to Northwest Montana.

Whitefish Human Resource Director Sherri Baccaro said the council asked her to look into the cost of hiring The Prothman Co., a Washington-based consulting firm that specializes in national and regional executive recruitment services. However, the council is “still very supportive of keeping [the search] in-house,” she said.

A professional consulting firm was used when Chuck Stearns was hired eight years ago, at a cost of about $40,000.

Stearns took over as Whitefish city manager in December 2008, replacing Gary Marks. His career in local government spans more than three decades. Stearns plans to retire at the end of the year.