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Anderson Resigns From City Position
Manager Vacancy
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A high-level vacancy will be in effect soon; as Riverbank City Manager Jill Anderson will be departing after four years and six months of service to the City at the end of August. Anderson will be taking on the City Manager position for the city of Chehalis, Washington. The move to Washington State, Anderson said, best serves her personal life but she also leaves Riverbank with a somewhat heavy heart.

“Riverbank will always hold a special place in my heart since this is the first city that I held the City Manager position,” stated Anderson. “I wish this city nothing but the best.

“This has been a good experience.”

At its meeting on Tuesday, July 26 (held after The News went to press) the Riverbank City Council was scheduled to provide staff some specific direction on the process for the selection of the next Permanent City Manager.

According to the agenda, the City Council has wide discretion in making the City Manager appointment and it can be done in a variety of ways. Those can range from making a straight appointment of an individual with no recruitment or following an international competitive search. Generally speaking, most cities conduct a competitive state or national search by engaging a firm with a specialty in placing government executives. While the City Council seriously considered using an executive search firm based on the recommendation of the City Manager, other options discussed at a special July 19 meeting was to use the City’s legal firm, Churchwell White to facilitate a competitive search in order to manage costs. City Attorney Tom Hallinan suggested that the firm may be able to provide the service pro bono, which would limit the City’s costs to direct expenses.

The financial impact listed on the agenda stated that the costs associated with recruitment will vary depending on how the executive search is conducted. If Churchwell White handles the recruitment the costs would be limited to those ‘direct costs’ associated with production of materials, advertising, and candidate travel reimbursement if needed.