Council to appoint new city administrator

Officials to choose among 3 finalists during Monday meeting

A new city administrator will be announced on Monday. The Yuma City Council will meet in a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1 City Plaza, to appoint an administrator and approve a contract and terms of employment for the appointee.

After receiving 34 applications, the field was narrowed down to three finalists who introduced themselves at an Oct. 9 open house. The finalists are Michael Celaya, former page city manager; Phil Rodriguez, a consultant for innovation and resiliency in local government; and Jay Simonton, who is currently serving as interim city administrator.

The council asked for feedback on the finalists, specifically asking about each candidate’s strengths and concerns that needed to be further explored. The council then interviewed the finalists in executive session on Oct. 10 and 11.

The Novak Consulting Group facilitated the recruitment process.

Yuma operates under the council-administrator form of government. The administrator is appointed by the council and serves as the chief administrative officer, implements council policies, provides organizational leadership for department directors and employees, and oversees the day-to-day business of government operations.

Also this week, the City Charter Review Committee is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday in City Hall Conference Room 190 to continue its section-bysection review. The committee will review Articles 4 through 6, which cover elections; initiative, referendum and recall of elected officials; and city officials.

The agenda also lists Articles 1 through 3, which address the city’s name, boundaries and powers of the city. These sections were reviewed during an Oct. 8 meeting. However, committee members had questions that are presumably to be answered by city staff at this meeting. They also asked that these sections continues on the agenda so they may go back to them if they felt a need to do so.

Earlier this year, the council requested a review of the charter to determine if updates and/or changes are necessary. The committee will present proposed amendments to the council in a public meeting and the recommendations may be placed on the ballot of the next scheduled city election.

To read the charter, go to https://bit.ly/2xhTUlB and click on “view code.” The charter will be listed towards the top on the lefthand side.