By Jonathan Friedman
Staff Writer
November 3, 2009 --
The City Council Mnday and Tuesday night will interview six candidates to replace outgoing City Manager P. Lamont Ewell. City consultant Lisa Mills said the council hopes to make a final selection on December 8.
More than 100 people applied for Santa Monica’s top staff position. Mills, who helped the City hire Ewell in 2006, selected 13 people for council review. Last week, the council shortened the list.
Last week’s meeting and this week’s interviews take place during what is called a Closed Session, which are meetings that take place out of the public view to discuss topics such as employee selections and performance reviews as well as litigation.
Mills said two or three finalists will be chosen, and those candidates will be brought back in for further interviews later this month.
Ewell announced in August his intention to retire at the end of the year. The man who is credited with putting Santa Monica on a strong financial footing during tough economic times said he wanted to end his 34 years of public service on "the high note of serving the Santa Monica community," according to a statement released by his office.
