The position of Nanaimo City Manager was not posted when Al Kennings, the current city manager, announced that he was leaving. Instead the Nanaimo City Council at an in-camera meeting selected and “crowned” the new city manager, Ted Swabey.
There are several problems with this selection process:
- placement of “crowned” candidate paves the way for cronyism and favouritism
- City of Nanaimo operates on taxpayers funding, not a private board of directors therefore a public process is due course
- missed opportunity to select the most qualified person for the job
How is the hiring process handled in other cities?
If the position becomes vacant in short notice then an interim city manager is found until the job vacancy is publicly posted and the selection process is complete.
Email Nanaimo City Council mayor&council@nanaimo.ca and request that the position of Nanaimo City Manager be publicly posted and a proper selection process be followed.
Nanaimo has a tradition of not posting the city manager position. In the past it has even remained in the same family, in the case of Jerry Berry who was the city manager for 22 years following in his father’s footsteps, the previous city manager.
Why is this happening in the middle of the summer?
