Local officials not lured to city manager post

Diana Sahagun

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 11:26 a.m.

The chance to help lead the city of Las Vegas failed to generate interest from officials working in neighboring governments, except for the city manager of Boulder City.

Apparently the salary range of $102,599 to $170,997 for the city manager position left vacant by Virginia Valentine did little to lure top officials from Henderson, North Las Vegas and Clark County, none of whom applied for a chance to become the new city manager.

According to the list of candidates released on Thursday, 15 people applied for the position after the city's statewide search, including two Las Vegas deputy city managers and the city manager of Boulder City. The remainder were from the private sector.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack, when informed about the makeup of the candidate list, said he had hoped to see officials from neighboring municipalities throw their names in for consideration. But he said he would reserve judgment until he had a chance to view all the resumes.

"We were hoping to see the talents of other municipalities looking to step up or make a change," Mack said. "But we'll go through the process and if we're not completely satisfied we can always open it up for another look."

Mack added that he has confidence in the two Las Vegas deputy city managers who did apply for the post, Betsy Fretwell and Doug Selby. The two deputies and Boulder City Manager John Sullard are the lone candidates with government experience who applied for the position.

But government experience hasn't proved to be a requirement in the past -- Valentine, who resigned effective May 31, had a civil engineering background when she was hired by the city in 1998.

Valentine has since taken a job with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. The council appointed Selby as acting city manager earlier this month. Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald voted against appointing Selby, saying it could give him an unfair advantage over Fretwell.

Las Vegas Councilman Larry Brown said he was not surprised that officials from neighboring jurisdictions did not apply for the position, saying those officials are in their current positions for a reason.

He added that he recognized only several names on the list of candidates he received late Thursday, but said he would reserve judgment until seeing the full resumes.

"There could be a diamond in the rough, so I'm anxious to see all the resumes," he said.

Brown said the most important quality the new city manager should have is leadership -- someone who can take policy direction from the council and also motivate staff. Secondly, he said, the new city manager must have fiscal experience and be innovative in discovering new ways to generate revenue.

The two deputy city managers top of list of candidates, which includes several consultants and the former executive vice president of hotel operations for the Las Vegas Hilton.

The list includes Donald King, who has worked for the city since 1983, most recently as a senior license officer, and E. Louis Overstreet, executive director of the Urban Chamber of Commerce. Michael Ducamp, the former Hilton executive, also applied.

City officials, especially Mayor Oscar Goodman, had high expectations for the position. When Valentine announced her resignation, Goodman immediately touted his own candidate, retiring Nellis Air Force Base Maj. Gen. L.D. Johnston. Johnston declined to apply, instead taking a position with the Defense Department.

Boggs McDonald coordinated a meeting between Goodman and another interested candidate, consultant Rose McKinney-James, who decided against applying for the position.

Judy Tuttle, the city's deputy director of Human Resources, said the council members were expected to receive the resumes from the candidates today. The members are then expected to go through the list of candidates and decide who should continue on in the process.

Tuttle expects that in two weeks the council will have a list of candidates who most closely fit the needs of the city. She will then likely ask the chosen candidates to submit a list of supplemental questions to submit prior to the interviewing process.

The candidates will go through interviews and the council will ultimately make a decision.