Amarillo City Council will soon begin the process of interviewing the finalists for the next Amarillo City Manager.

According to an agenda posted by the city, the council will meet in executive session on Tuesday, May 14th at 8:00 am for “candidate interviews.” The council will later in the day begin a different executive session to discuss other projects at 1:00 pm before beginning their regular open meeting at 3:00 pm. After the finish of business during the regular meeting, the council could then theoretically reconvene in executive session.

The council will then reconvene on Wednesday, May 15th at 8:00 am to continue the process of interviewing candidates. As of writing, the 8:00 am meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday are the only meetings scheduled which include candidate interviews on the agenda.

The most recent meeting held by the council regarding the city manager search process was an executive session held on April 18th.

The city is being assisted by consulting firm Baker Tilley in the search. According to a proposal from Baker Tilley, “a typical timeline is 100-120 days from project kickoff to extending an offer of employment.” The firm was hired by the council on January 23rd, 2023. As of writing, it has been 111 days since the contract was approved by the council. The proposal also includes an example timeline, which places the on-site interview process in Week 13.

The road to picking a new city manager began last August when the council voted to approve a separation agreement between the city and then-City Manager Jared Miller.

Miller’s employment had become a subject of increased scrutiny earlier in 2023 when the council, under then-Mayor Ginger Nelson, voted to raise Jared Miller’s salary and benefits. The new contract also made it harder to fire Miller, a move which was widely seen as an attempt to tie the hands of the next city council shortly before the election was set to take place.

Following the separation agreement, Deputy City Manager Andrew Freeman was named as the city’s new Interim City Manager. At the time, Freeman was unofficially seen as a leading contender for being the new permanent pick in the role. Still, the council went forward, under advisement from a subcommittee including councilmen Les Simpson and Don Tipps, with hiring Baker-Tilley to facilitate the search. In December, Freeman began a program of “city manager listening sessions” where he invited members of the public to bring their concerns directly to him.

Freeman’s prospects of being named City Manager seemed to dissipate in March when he announced he would step down from the role of Interim City Manager. Freeman's decision to step down was preceded by controversy surrounding his attempts to restructure city leadership positions. The council expressed concern regarding the changes, feeling like they were not kept in the loop regarding the changes. Days before stepping down, Freeman announced the listening sessions program would be put on hold.

Shortly after Freeman stepped down and returned to the role of Deputy City Manager, the council officially promoted Assistant City Manager Floyd Hartman as the new Interim City Manager.

The list of finalists being considered by the city has not been released to the public. The executive session interview meetings will not be open to the public.

Baker Tilley was also recently recruited by the city to assist in the City Charter review process, with a final contract set to be approved by the council during their regular meeting on May 14th. The regular meeting will be open to the public, though no mention of the city manger recruitment process is listed on the agenda for that meeting.