Palmer council narrows city manager candidates to five at Monday meeting

Fifteen people have applied for the Palmer city manager job, but the city council narrowed the field to five at a Monday, Jan. 6 special city council meeting. Discussions will continue at the council’s regular meeting next Tuesday, Jan 14, said acting city manager John Diumenti.

Names and cities of residence were given in materials before the council, but past employment and other information was held confidential, at least to information posted on the city’s website and available to the public.

More information on the top five candidates will be made available as the hiring process continues.

The top five include Kolby Hickel Zerkel, of Anchorage, who was given a top score of 8.0 based on education and experience; Scott Meszeros, of Yanceyville, California, who also netted a high score of 8.0; Sidney Miller, of Venice, Florida, whose application was scored at 7.0; Susana Stinnett, of Anchorage, whose application was scored at 6.5, and David Pepper, of Wasilla, whose application was scored at 4.5.

There was limited further information on the candidates. It is known that Hickel applied previously when the job was first posted after the retirement of John Moosey, the long-serving former manager.

From her earlier application it is known that Hickel’s experience includes working with the Municipality of Anchorage and helping manage development of the big Port of Alaska reconstruction project.

The numerical scoring may or may not be a major factor in the council’s final selection. The so-called “soft” skills and experience will also be considered. These include skills in personal communication and working with people.

The council may give these skills a high priority after the short tenure of Stephen Jellie, who served briefly after Moosey’s retirement but resigned mainly over personnel differences with the city’s public safety workers.

Jellie was given good marks for competence in management by fellow city workers but others familiar with Palmer affairs said his abrupt style in dealing with people created problems, which can weigh heavily in small town like Palmer.