Henderson chose ‘best’ without looking at others

Monday, Oct. 15, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

This month Henderson will hand over the city manager 's reins to Mary Kay Peck, the assistant city manager and a 12-year city employee .

There was no nationwide, or even regional, search for candidates interested in the city's top administrative post. No advertisements in trade magazines. No recruiting firm tracking down the best and the brightest.

There was just a memo from outgoing City Manager Philip Speight advising the five-member City Council that the best person to take his spot would be Peck. The council voted 4-0 to make the hire.

Speight said he saw no reason to look elsewhere.

"I know some council members thought about it," he said. "But we didn't talk much about it. I felt very strongly about the people we had internally."

Henderson is not the only Southern Nevada communit y that has seen no need to get outsiders' perspective s for its top slot. Peck's appointment is the fourth consecutive time that a local government has looked internally to fill its top slot.

Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine was promoted from the assistant manager's slot this year. North Las Vegas City Manager Gregory Rose was promoted from assistant city manager in 2003. And Douglas Selby previously served as an assistant before being named Las Vegas City Manager in 2002.

Some in Southern Nevada offer a simple reason for the internal promotions.

"I think you go outside when there is the perception that things aren't working," said Lee Bernick, chairman of UNLV's public administration department. "If things are working , I don't see any need to go outside."

But others say cities cannot be certain they're getting the best possible individual s for key posts if they do not search beyond their borders.

"If you're really serious about professionalism , that means you are going to look for the best person," said David Ammons, a public administration and government professor at the University of North Carolina. "It's not a bad idea to let the inside candidate compete with the outside people to see what's out there."

For Henderson, there's little doubt many things are going right.

The city has met needs brought on by unprecedented development during the past two decades. Few residents complain about the city , at least openly . Plans aim to spruce up the few seedy sections of the city. And billions of dollars ' worth of additional development is either in progress or on the way.

Now the city of nearly 300,000 will turn its administrative leadership over to the next in line, eschewing the kind of wider search for which even tiny Mukiltro, Wash., population 18,000, opted in hiring a firm to help it evaluate candidates for city manager this year.

"There are risks either way," said Colin Baenziger, a public employee recruiter who works nationwide.

In Henderson, Speight is stepping down after 19 years to become Rep. Jon Porter's chief of staff. He leaves behind a city that is expected to grow to 500,000 by 2025.

Speight made $221,000 last year. Peck's contract is being negotiated.

Management experts said searching far and wide for a new manager is not always the best solution. And for cities not embroiled in controversy , internal promotion can be the best option.

"If the city is doing well and it is well run , then they will go in - house," Baenziger said. "If the elected body wants to send a message that there is a course change , then the best way to do that is to look elsewhere."

Henderson is more interested in staying the course than changing anything.

Peck's elevation, officials said, will make for a seamless transition , and she's already familiar with most of the major projects in the city and her five new bosses.

"I thought we have the talent here already," Councilwoman Gerri Schroder said.

"What we were trying to do is to have people already working for Henderson trained so we have a succession to move up the ladder. I didn't feel we needed to have the expense and time commitment of a national search."