El Paso City Council to discuss plans to hire new city manager at next meeting

El Paso City Council

KFOX 14
by Fallon Fischer
Thu, March 23rd 2023, 3:31 PM CST

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The El Paso City Council will discuss its plan to hire a new city manager on Tuesday.

A presentation outlining the Texas City Management Association's guidelines for recruiting a city manager will be given to city leaders.

Before posting the job, it is recommended that the City Council reach a general consensus on competencies, experience, education level, skills the new city manager should possess and objectives that they will look to him or her to achieve, according to the presentation.

The presentation states that city leaders will be given the option to determine the city manager's salary and another benefit they could be entitled to.

During the process, officials will have an opportunity to review city manager salaries in 27 Texas cities.

The average salary for the top five city managers in San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, and Arlington is $386,822.68, according to the presentation.

The average salary for the 18 city managers listed in the presentation is $305,352.91.

Guidelines say that city has three options when it comes to recruiting applicants.

They are listed in the presentation as follows:

1. The city conducts the recruitment in-house
2. The city council outsources the recruitment by hiring a search firm
3. The city council uses a hybrid approach of in-house resources with some help from a search firm

Current city employees and individuals who do not reside in El Paso are eligible to apply for the city manager position.

The presentation also contains information about giving the city council the option to have citizens play a role in the city manager selection process.

Guidelines for recruiting a city manager by the Texas City Management Association by Fallon Fischer on Scribd

Representative Cassandra Hernandez, who will be leading the presentation, launched a public survey so El Pasoans can share their thoughts on what qualifications they would like the new city manager to have. The survey can be accessed here.

"Everyone in El Paso should feel welcome to chime in at EPVoices.com to provide their feedback prior to the El Paso City Council engaging with a search firm," a news release from Hernandez read.

Representative Chirs Canales placed a separate item on the City Council meeting agenda to discuss and take action on hiring an executive search firm to conduct a national search to hire a city manager.

The process of selecting a city manager including posting the job, reviewing resumes, interviewing potential candidates, picking a finalist and giving them enough time to relocate to El Paso if needed could range from 90 to 165 days, according to the presentation.

Choosing a city manager may take longer depending on the City Council's approach.

City Manager Tommy Gonzalez was hired as El Paso's second city manager in 2014 following a national search. He started with a base salary of $238,959.82 and currently earns over $400,000.

In 2022, the city council voted to cap Gonzalez's salary and approved Gonzalez's contract extension for five years until 2029.

Gonzalez's salary cap is $450,000 with any increases above that amount going towards the City of El Paso's streets department for street improvements.

His employment contract was terminated without good cause on Feb. 28 and his last day will be on June 29.

Interim City Manager Cary Westin will take over his new role on June 30.