Three city manager candidates, councillors dig into details; see four hours boiled down
Candidates for city manager got their second public forum Wednesday at City Hall – this time hearing questions from city councillors, rather than from members of the public as at Tuesday’s hearing.
In their submitted questions and follow-ups to candidates Louis A. DePasquale, the city’s assistant city manager for fiscal affairs since 2002; Robert “Jay” Ash Jr., secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development for the state; and Paul J. Fetherston, currently assistant city manager in Asheville, N.C., councillors went beyond questions on economic development and income inequality to delve deeper into the relationship the City Manager’s Office has with the council and members of the public: What’s the best way to deal with a municipal department lagging in public service? Should reports to the council from city staff include “editorializing”? How does city government best use – or not – input from its many accomplished residents?
John Hawkinson has put together a Storify here that includes live tweets of the four-hour meeting from himself, State House News Service (and former Cambridge Chronicle scribe) Andy Metzger, resident Tom Stohlman and more.
The council returns to vote on the next city manager at a 5:30 p.m. Sept. 29 special meeting at at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.