RFP to be done for city manager search

While the city commission continues in discussions with former city manager Tom Markus, they unanimously agreed to have city staff develop a request for proposal (RFP) for an executive recruitment firm to begin the recruitment process for a new city manager at its meeting on Monday, October 26. At their meeting on October 19, the city commission agreed to both engage a professional recruitment firm and to interview Markus, following the unexpected resignation of current city manager Joe Valentine, effective December 31, 2020, after almost 24 years with the city of Birmingham. Valentine provided the commission with a list of five municipal recruitment firms for them to consider. Commissioner Stuart Sherman noted that one of the firms, The Mercer Group, the city and commission had worked with previously, and he was not pleased with their performance. Commissioners Rackeline Hoff and Mark Nickita concurred. “I don't understand why we don't have an RFP for a recruitment search firm,” Sherman said. “If we're going to do a search, we have to interview companies. Then we can interview the top two or three firms. This is too important to just throw darts.”