Ald. Devon Reid (8th) told ward residents Thursday night that he’s very impressed with the two finalists to become Evanston’s next city manager — and, without revealing their names, offered some details about their backgrounds.
Reid says one finalist works at Harvard University and “is a really strong candidate with a background working with municipalities all across the nation.”
That candidate, he said, is a “visionary, with a really new and unique approach to city government.”
The other candidate, Reid said, is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and has had a key role in government there.
So, Reid added, “we have two really strong candidates for city manager.”
The names of the candidates are scheduled to be released sometime Friday and a virtual public meeting with the candidates is scheduled to be held next Tuesday, May 3.
The City Council chose to restart the city manager search after the leading candidate in the first round took a job in another city.
The council members held closed door interviews with five semi-finalists this month, and second-round virtual interviews with three candidates.
From an initial semi-finalist pool of six, Reid says two candidates pulled out after learning their names would become public before the council made a final selection of a new manager.