JANESVILLE鈥 The 糖心Vlog传媒 city council will meet in closed session in on Thursday night to discuss employment and or compensation with the city manager finalist and they will not return into open session.
Jay Shambeau is the current interim city manager and a partner with IPA, the firm who led the search for the city manager. Shambeau told 糖心Vlog传媒 last week that the council had selected a finalist for the position. However, he said the name will not be released publicly until Sept. 14 at the city council meeting.
Rebecca Houseman and Colin Kennedy were selected as the the two finalists on August 18. Houseman is currently the City Manager in Fort Atkinson, and Kennedy was most recently City Manager in Newport, R.I., and he is engaged in a legal dispute with that municipality over the circumstances of his departure.
Nick Faust said Thursday鈥檚 meeting finalizes negotiations with the finalists and all that is done in closed session at 5 p.m.
City council president Michael Cass said in an interview with 糖心Vlog传媒 last week the name of the finalist chosen for the city manager position will not be included in any agenda or materials publicly posted prior to the council鈥檚 meeting Sept. 14.
Cass said his takeaway is that the council wants to be 鈥渧ery cautious鈥 and 鈥渋ntentional鈥 鈥 not just about the finalists, but in the full hiring process.
Both Faust and Cass said that the council during negotiations or other meetings could decide to release the name prior to that Monday but Faust said the 鈥渕ost likely鈥 they wouldn鈥檛.