Michael Hudson, Sequatchie County Executive, is one of the applicants for Red Bank City Manager.RED BANK CITY MANAGER APPLICANTSAs of Oct. 25, 2011Gary Bean -- Hixson, Tenn.Keith Bennett -- Carson, Calif.Richard Giroux -- Cambridge, OhioTammy Harris -- Melbourne, Fla.Rob Hatchett -- Chattanooga, Tenn.Michael Hudson -- Chattanooga, Tenn.Michelle Horton -- Graysville, Tenn.Thad Jablonski -- Bristol, Tenn.Mark Matthews -- Red Bank, Tenn.Michael Phillips -- Greenville, S.C.Harry Staven -- St. Mary's, AlaskaChristopher Stone -- Rainesville, Ala.Jafar Ware -- Dalton, Ga.Johnny Williams -- Northport, Ala.Michael Willis -- Cleveland, Tenn.Cynthia Wright -- Milledgeville, Ga.Source: Red Bank City Hall
Just three weeks after former Red Bank City Manager Chris Dorsey abruptly was fired, 16 people from seven states are ready to take his place.
Applications for city manager have poured in from as far away as Alaska and from as close as the local fire hall.
Though the Red Bank City Commission wants to keep the job posting up for another week or two, Mayor Monty Millard said commissioners will hold a work session Tuesday to review all the applications and start narrowing the list.
"We would like to have the city manager in place by Dec. 1," Millard said Tuesday.
The list includes both longtime veterans of the public sector and recent college graduates. The only applicant from within Red Bank is veteran fire Chief Mark Matthews, who has served 36 years with the city.
Harry Staven, another applicant, is city manager of St. Mary's, a town in remote western Alaska near the mouth of the Yukon River. He spotted the job on a website that shows openings in the public sector nationwide.
"I like working in small communities," said Staven, reached by phone Tuesday. "Communities facing hard economic times are challenges, and I like challenges. Economic development is something I put a lot of focus on."
Staven has lived throughout the nation holding jobs in the public sector, and he traveled through East Tennessee in 2004, he said.
Other applicants includes former Sequatchie County Executive Michael Hudson and Gary Bean, superintendent of the Hamilton County Highway Department.
Applicants are not required to have a bachelor's degree, though "comparable" experience in municipal management, public administration and business is necessary, according to the job posting on the city's website.
The notice stipulates that the position's salary is "dependent upon qualifications." Dorsey's salary was $91,800 at the time of his termination, records show.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to fire Dorsey at the end of an Oct. 4 meeting, with no deliberation. The three commissioners who voted him out -- John Roberts, Floy Pierce and Greg Jones -- cited personnel issues as the chief reason for his firing.
Dorsey, who had served for six years, said at the time he believed his sudden ouster was a political move.