Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council has selected three candidates for final interviews for city manager on Monday, Sept. 19.
They are John Morgan of Keizer, Harry Staven of Bandon and Raymond Towry of Ephrata, Wash. The council selected them from among 10 candidates interviewed two weeks ago. A total of 21 applied for the open city manager position. A fourth candidate, Sidney Mitchell of San Diego, Calif., was selected, but he declined the final interview.
The public will have the opportunity to meet the finalists from noon to 1 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the Jim Riggs Community Center, 880 18th Ave. Light refreshments will be served.
Earlier in the day, city staff will provide them a tour of Sweet Home and then eat lunch with the finalists. Final interviews are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at the Community Center. The interviews will be open to the public.
The council will enter closed executive session following the interviews to consider offering a job to one of the three finalists.
Morgan is currently the principal for Morgan CPS and the executive director for The Chinook Institute for Civic Leadership. He has prior experience as community development director the City of Damascus from 2012 to 2014 and city manager for the City of Sherwood from 1999 to 2001.
Morgan holds a bachelor of science degree in urban and regional government from Willamette University.
He also has served as consultant, facilitator and planner in Sweet Home.
Staven most recently served as finance director for the City of Bandon. He has prior experience with the City of Hoonah, Alaska, and Clinton, N.C., as a city administrator and planner. He was finance director in Galena, Alaska, and served as interim city manager and treasurer in Lakeside.
He holds a master of public administration degree from Seattle University, a bachelor of science degree in accounting and a bachelor of science degree in economics and business administration from Central Washington University.
Towry is the community services director for the City of Ephrata, Wash., where he has been since 2004. He has additional experience with the City of Moses Lake, Wash., and Moscow, Idaho, where he was supervisor of recreation. He is the president and owner of Recreational Services, LLC.
He holds a master of public administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor of arts degree in business from Washington State University.
The mayor and City Council anticipate making a formal job offer by the end of September, said Christy Wurster, interim city manager.
For more information, contact the city manager’s office at (541) 367-8969 or stop by City Hall, 1140 12th Ave.