When the Columbus city council hiring committee meets next week to begin winnowing down the list of applicants for the city’s chief operating officer position, it will have been 10 months since former COO David Armstrong announced his retirement and seven months since his departure.
In addition to the COO position, the committee will also narrow the field of candidates for chief financial officer and information technology director, which — as it is with the COO position — are currently being filled on an interim basis.
The previous city administration was sometimes criticized for moving too quickly, with too small a field of applicants, in filling vacancies. That is a charge not likely to be made against this mayor and council.
Some of the delay in addressing these positions, especially the COO position, is understandable and, we believe, prudent.
In May, the council voted to delay the hiring until after the June municipal elections, thus allowing the new city government the opportunity to hire the new COO. This came after the first deadline for job applications ended in early May with just six COO applicants. Waiting was a good idea. The COO, CFO and IT Director positions now have 40, 45 and 37 applicants, respectively.
Another part of the delay in hiring a new COO appears to have been a consequence of new mayor Keith Gaskin’s efforts to restructure some city positions, including the COO and CFO positions. The council has consistently rejected that option, however, and it appears now that the city will hire all three positions.
The latest delay is a little harder to explain, though.
The application deadline for all three positions was Dec. 3. As of the hiring committee’s Tuesday meeting — nearly four weeks after the application deadline — seemingly nothing had been done to begin narrowing the candidates. In fact, when asked Tuesday, officials didn’t know the number of candidates for each position who met the minimum requirements for the job.
To the hiring committee’s credit, they say they will have three finalists for each position by their next meeting on Monday. We hope that’s true and that they continue to move forward with more urgency than they have.
While the individuals filling the positions on an interim basis are all extremely capable, the city desperately needs to make these hires.
Interim positions are stop-gap measures designed to deal with the pressing matters. Filling these positions on a permanent basis increases accountability and consistency and allows these administrators to not only address immediate issues, but anticipate and plan for the future. Likewise, every day on the job builds experience to be drawn upon.
The hiring committee includes the mayor, HR Director Pat Mitchell, Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart, Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene, Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard and Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco. When they meet next week to begin the selection process it will have been five weeks since the application deadline.
We believe everything is now in position that will allow the council to move quickly — but not hastily — in filling these positions.
Each of these positions is crucial for city operations. Having them filled permanently will be a huge benefit to the city.
The sooner that happens, the better.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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