Three Oregon city managers and one Metro department director are finalists for Metro's chief operating officer position, a job that's expected to be filled in September.
Metro Sustainability Center Director Jim Desmond is the in-house finalist. The city managers are Martha Bennett of Ashland, Wes Hare of Albany and Scott Lazenby of Sandy.
They were selected by councilors Carl Hosticka and Barbara Roberts, who led the search committee and conducted 13 telephone interviews last week. The vacancy drew 56 applicants.
The chief operating officer is the agency's staff boss, managing departments ranging from planning to the Oregon Zoo to nature preserves. They're also the staff's primary liaison to the Metro Council, and is the focal point of balancing politics with policy both in-house and with the other governments in the Metro region.
That diverse portfolio, and the scope of other governments Metro works with, helped drive the selection process, Roberts said.
"These were all people who had worked across boundaries, and worked across jurisdictions," she said. "That gave them a much better chance as we worked through the selection process."
Bennett, Ashland's city manager since 2006, worked in northwest Oregon in the early 2000s, serving as the executive director of the Columbia River Gorge Commission. She was also an assistant city manager in Milwaukie and an assistant to former Sen. Mark Hatfield. Bennett earned her master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her bachelor's from Willamette University.
Desmond has worked for Metro since 1995, first serving as the head of the agency's land acquisition and conservation program and then the head of the agency's Parks and Greenspaces Department. In 2008, he was appointed director of Metro's Sustainability Center, which works on environmental protection and conservation of natural areas. Desmond earned his law degree from Vanderbilt after finishing undergraduate work at Notre Dame.
Hare has been a city manager since 1988, first for Oakridge before, then La Grande. He was hired by Albany in 2005. He spent six months as a consultant in Karbala, Iraq, through a program sponsored by the International City/County Management Association. He has a bachelor's and master's from the University of Oregon.
Lazenby, Sandy's city manager since 1992, has worked in city government in three states. From 1986-92, he was the management and budget director in Glendale, Ariz.; he was an assistant to the city manager in Vancouver, Wash., from 1979-86. Lazenby has a doctorate in public administration and policy from Portland State University, as well as a master's from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's from Reed College.
The uniqueness of the agency led to picking four finalists from Oregon, Roberts said.
"You almost have to have some Oregon connection to really have the ability to identify with the agency," she said. "It wasn't intentional that we ended up with four people with an Oregon connection; in the final six or seven, there were a couple who were from out of state. They just didn't have the credential matches that seemed to work with the agency."
Hosticka said he and Roberts struggled with whether it was appropriate to only have Oregonians as finalists.
"Was it that we didn't cast our net widely enough?" Hosticka said. "Or is it just that the people from Oregon had some sort of natural advantage because they knew the area, they knew the issues?"
The four are vying to replace Michael Jordan, the agency's first chief operating officer, who stepped down in March to serve in a similar role at the state level. Hosticka said they weren't necessarily looking for a clone of Jordan for the appointment.
"Mike is not somebody you're going to replace," Hosticka said. "I think people realized that we had to sort of break new ground."
The finalists will have breakfast meetings with leaders from around the region, two panel interviews with Metro partners and a social event with the Metro Council and Metro Exposition and Recreation Commission. Finalists will also meet with representatives of Metro staff through facility tours, and will have one-on-one meetings with Metro Council President Tom Hughes.
"Any one of those in the final four can do the job, so it just remains to be seen who has the best chemistry and impresses the selection committees," Hosticka said. "Ultimately, it's the president's decision."
While Hughes gets to make the appointment, at least three more Metro councilors will have to sign off on his selection.
Note: An earlier version of the story had incorrect information about the timeline for the hiring process. This version has been corrected.