Leven, Hayman, Horton in running for manager post
IMLAY CITY — City Commmissioners on Wednesday (July 8) hosted second interviewed of three candidates seeking to fill the vacant city manager position.
The city is seeking a successor for former City Manager Tom Youatt, who retired on June 30
The candidates (in order of interview appearance) included: Elaine Leven, Marine City Manager; Rik Hayman, City of Burton Operations Manager; and Craig Horton, Lapeer County Chief Financial Officer.
A final decision is not expected to be made before Tuesday, July 14, when the full commission meets again to hear a recommendation from the board’s personnel committee, consisting of Mayor Joi Kempf and Commissioners Kelly Villanueva and Ted Sadler.
On July 8, each candidate was asked an identical series of questions from Mayor Kempf, followed by questions from Villanueva and Sadler, and then other commissioners.
Kempf informed the candidates that the committee was still awaiting the results of candidates’ background and reference checks.
The background and reference checks are being conducted by ASE (American Society of Employers) Services, a firm hired to conduct that phase of the process in lieu of hiring a more costly and time-consuming search firm to conduct a broader and more thorough search.
Each candidate was afforded about 25-30 minutes to answer the questions, after which they left and commissioners briefly discussed their impressions.
Tom Wearing started at the Tri-City Times in 1989, covering the Village of Capac as a beat reporter. He later served stints as assistant editor and editor. Today, he covers Imlay City and Almont as a staff writer. He enjoys music and plays drums and sings with various musical groups in the Detroit Metropolitan area.