Saline City Council Passes Motion to Include Acting City Manager in Finalist Interviews

After several weeks of discussion regarding the hiring process for the Saline City Manager position, City Council passed a motion at its June 16 meeting to include Acting City Manager Elle Cole in the next round of finalist interviews, inviting back the four external candidates as well.

After the departure of the previous City Manager, Elle Cole took on the position’s responsibilities in the interim. The hiring committee created by City Council interviewed 47 applicants and selected four finalists, who were interviewed in an open meeting May 21. Cole was not one of the final candidates, and at subsequent city council meetings, multiple members of the community came forward to question the decision not to include her.

“I really do appreciate my fellow council members that were part of this process,” Harmount said at the June 16 meeting. “My problem is that we need to be able to trust, but also verify the details and the logic behind the decision.”

Mayor Brian Marl stated that he sent an email to council members explaining the process and criteria used to evaluate candidates, though Harmount stated the email did not provide the information she had been looking for. Due to this and community response, Harmount put forward a motion to include Cole in the next round of finalist interviews.

“Based on the abundance of community response that we’ve gotten and the non-answer as far as how the criteria was weighted and evaluated, I think that we maybe are not in alignment with what the community is wanting,” Harmount said.

Mayor Marl and councilmember Jack Ceo expressed disagreement with the motion during the discussion.

“My belief was that as a council, we delegated the authority to the committee that was appointed to come forward with the four candidates,” Ceo said. “They did so. I have full faith and confidence in the judgment that they used to make the decision that they brought forth, and I’ll be voting against this proposal.”

The motion passed 5-2, and the council stated a date for the interviews will ideally be set by the end of the week.