Flagstaff city hall

Flagstaff’s Search for a New City Manager

The city manager is arguably one of the most important positions within a city government. In Flagstaff and by city charter, we have a Council-Manager form of government. The city council hires the city manager, and the manager has ultimate responsibility for enacting policies passed by the council and for the day-to-day functioning of the city.

The city council has been clear about what we’re looking for in a new city manager upon the retirement of Greg Clifton. Greg is an extraordinary leader, adept at balancing the ideas and desires of the public, council, and staff with Flagstaff’s budget considerations. He set the tone for our city: customer-service focused, innovative, and fiscally responsible.

Greg generously told the city council of his impending retirement long before it was publicly announced. In the interim, the council interviewed the city’s contracted recruitment firms; each has extensive experience hiring for executive positions in city governments. We selected our top choice, Duffy Group, and spent several hours with them discussing the skills, experience, and qualities we were looking for as well our expectations for the rigor of the process.

Once Greg’s retirement was publicly announced, the Duffy Group began their search. They have contacts nationwide, so they set about advertising the position, soliciting potential applicants and screening interested individuals. The application period has closed, and council now begins the process to identify candidates we wish to bring forward for final consideration.

The timeline is as follows:

September 25 – Council met in executive session to review the applicants who made it through the consultant’s rigorous screening.

October 2 – Council meets in executive session to conduct video screenings with the selected applicants and to choose finalists.

October 22 – In-person interview day for finalists.

October 23 – Council meets in executive session to consider internal and community feedback and deliberate on our final selection.

Interview Day (October 22) will consist of the following:

  • Presentations by candidates to an extended leadership team panel
  • Panel interviews with city leadership
  • Panel Interviews with city council
  • Panel Interviews with a community partner panel
  • City staff meet and greet
  • Community meet and greet

The city council wants to hear from as many community members as possible, so please plan on attending the public meet and greet Oct. 22 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. This is your opportunity to interact with the candidates and provide feedback to council. The council will then consider feedback from city staff, community partners, and other community members while we deliberate in executive session and make our selection.

Hiring Flagstaff’s next city manager is a big responsibility which I take exceedingly seriously. Our city is making great strides, and our next manager will be responsible for keeping multiple projects and priorities moving forward while also generating new ideas. Your involvement in the hiring process is important to me. I want to hear from you, and I look forward to receiving your input on our finalists.

This column appears in the October 2025 edition of the Flagstaff Business News.

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