SEPTEMBER 10, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11 City manager search finally underway By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Of the Keizertimes The Keizer City Council authorized interim City Manager Wes Hare to sign a contract with The Greg Prothman Company at the Tuesday, Sept. 7 meet- ing. An updated timeline shows that final interviews for the city manager position will now take place Dec. 14. The executive recruitment company is set to begin working with the city as early as next week to begin recruiting Keizer’s next city manager. The contract approval, originally set to happen at an Aug. 16 meet- ing, was delayed three weeks after Councilor Ross Day voiced his upset with city staff’s selection process and background check of Prothman. Day originally wanted to start their entire process over, but after another lengthy debate at an Aug. 23 work session, the council decided to move forward if the company passed a background check. “I’ll speak for my role in the process which was to contact the references of The Greg Prothman Company, which I did. You have a summary of the responses to my reference check,” Hare told the council. “They were all generally pretty positive. Not sure that I learned anything new.” Keizer has been without a city man- ager since April. An updated timeline for the recruit- ing process, originally set to begin Aug. 18, shows the new start date as Sept. 13. Applications for the city man- ager position will close Nov. 7 and the final interview process is set to take place Dec. 14. The city will pay the Prothman company $20,000 for the recruitment services. News tip? Contact reporter Joey Cappelletti at editor@keiz- ertimes.com or 616-610-3093. Keizer city councilors discuss the hiring of a new city manager at Tuesday's meeting. Photo by JOEY CAPPELLETTI of Keizertimes brainfood McNary band hosting fundraiser on Saturday The McNary band will be hosting their annual Band Day on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. Due to COVID-19 issues, they are not going door-to-door this year. Instead, they will set up operations at V2 Dentistry on River Rd and are asking people to drop off any bottles and cans or donations at that location. People can also visit www.mcnaryhsband.org to fill out a form to have donations picked up at their home. crossword answers pg A14