Hilton Head likely to hire new town manager today. Why doesn’t the public know who it is?
Hilton Head Island leaders appear poised to hire a new town manager on Wednesday.
The identity of the potential chief executive officer, however, has been kept secret.
Although the Town Council said it would discuss Town Manager Steve Riley’s replacement in late January at its annual workshop, Wednesday’s meeting agenda and comments from council members suggest the council will approve a contract for a person who was not considered in the nationwide search process last fall.
The behind-the-scenes coordination is an about-face from the process the council said it wanted: The selection of a new chief executive officer — among the most important duties the council has — would be done in a transparent, public process.
It comes on the heels of a months long search process where a focus group provided feedback on the Town Manager’s job description, a short list of candidates was released to the public, and the town was planning a 50-person reception for the finalists so they could be introduced to, and critiqued by, the public.
One councilman criticized the secrecy of the current hiring, saying the end doesn’t justify the means.
As Hilton Head residents Patsy Brison and Risa Prince wrote to The Island Packet in July, “A selection without an open process, without public input, and without communication to the public contradicts what Mayor John McCann and several Town Council members promised when running for office.”
The secretive hiring sets up the incoming town manager for a rocky public relations start after residents have repeatedly called for clarity and communication on the process but received very little.
The meeting will take place at 4 p.m. Wednesday in closed-door session.
The council is expected to announce the person’s name following the executive session.
How did we get here?
The council hired an executive search firm in September that failed when Assistant Town Manager Josh Gruber suddenly appeared on the short list and two finalists unexpectedly dropped out.
After that search fell apart, the council said it would discuss its next move at its Jan. 28 workshop — a meeting that does not yet appear on the town calendar.
Hilton Head’s new town manager will be responsible for overseeing, hiring and fixing salaries for town staff, preparing and presenting budgets and advising the elected town council on how to achieve its goals.
Members of town council on Tuesday were quick to defend the secretive process. Some said the importance of getting a good candidate for the job outweighs holding a public process.
The only council member to speak publicly, Alex Brown, who was elected in November, sent an email newsletter Tuesday night about the impending council meeting.
“While I’m aware that some confidentiality is required in this process, that does not justify a secretive backroom process to ‘get the job done’ without thoroughly searching for and vetting qualified candidates,” Brown wrote.
There is no public information on who will be offered the contract, but the Town Council can appoint whomever it wants for the job, according to Town Human Resources Director Angie Stone and the town code.
“Town Council determines how to identify and vet candidates for the position,” she said. “Ultimately, they can appoint whoever they believe will be the best person for the job, with or without that person applying for the position. Often, a Town Manager search involves an application period, while in other cases a Town Council decides to make an appointment without conducting an external search.”
Gruber, who is set to become the interim town manager on Jan. 1, agreed not to apply for the job when he signed his interim contract.
He has told The Island Packet he does not want the full-time job.
This story will be updated.
