Photo by Solomon Crenshaw, Jr.
Homewood Councilwoman Barry Smith talks about what she considers to be improper use of city credit cards by employees during a meeting of the City Council's Finance Committee on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023.
The city of Homewood will soon welcome an interim city manager, as interviews for the role are currently underway.
In September, Homewood residents approved a referendum to transition to a council-manager form of government. The new structure will go into effect in November 2025, when the new council and mayor are sworn in. The interim city manager will assist with the transition and may remain in the role under the new administration, pending approval.
The city posted the job opening on its website on Dec. 13, giving candidates a month to apply. The person hired will serve from March 2025 to March 2026.
“There’s wording in the actual city manager form of government statute that says a person who was hired prior to the change in form of government can only stay four months past the date of the end of our term,” said Councilwoman Barry Smith. “March 1, 2026, is that four months. So that essentially is the reason we picked that term because the statute says that person can't stay unless, of course—let me just caveat that by saying—they are allowed to stay if the new council allows them and gives them a new contract.”
Smith is the chair of the City Council committee tasked with overseeing the hiring process. Other committee members include councilors Carlos Alemán, Nick Sims, Jennifer Andress and Andy Gwaltney. Smith said the city quickly received several qualified applicants, and virtual interviews began in late January.
Final candidates have been invited for in-person interviews.
“We’ll cull down the list to a smaller number of our top candidates and then have those people come to Homewood so that we can have a day where they meet and interact with our department heads, tour some of the city facilities—especially if they’re not local—and give them an idea of what Homewood looks like, where we are, what surrounds us, those kinds of things,” said Smith. “We would do that probably in early February and then hopefully be able to make a selection and an appointment by the last [council] meeting in February so that person would be able to step into the role on March 1.”
The city manager will act as the municipal government’s chief executive and will be responsible to the council for the proper administration of all affairs of the city.
Key job functions include directing department heads, preparing the city budget, planning and recommending future programs, referring requests and projects to the appropriate officials, and communicating with both council members and Homewood residents about city operations and policies.
“Obviously, the whole point of doing this is to have someone who can be boots on the ground as the transition person between this council and the new council and the new format,” said Smith. “Because there’s likely going to be a fairly significant change in personnel, and we’ve got to have somebody who can help bridge that gap between the old folks and the new people.”
