City manager to help with the search for his replacement

One of the last things Tacoma’s city manager will do before heading to a new job will be to start the process of replacing himself.

The Tacoma City Council asked outgoing T.C. Broadnax, who has been tapped to be Dallas’ new city manager after almost five years in Tacoma, to prepare a request for qualifications to solicit a national firm to find a new city manager.

The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to approve Broadnax’s appointment. The Tacoma City Council acted Tuesday night.

“This essentially acknowledges what we all know and what’s in the paper, which is that our city manager has been offered a job in another city,” said Councilman Marty Campbell in introducing the resolution, which appeared on Tuesday’s council agenda. “On completion of that process we will need to begin our process, which I think will be a difficult process to replace our city manager — not difficult in the techniques of the process, just the big shoes to fill.”

Cost estimates for each phase of the process will be included in the request for qualifications, according to the resolution. Securing a national recruitment firm to help the City Council identify candidate qualities and qualifications and help create a hiring plan is standard when a city manager position is open.

Campbell said Tuesday that there was no point in waiting until the new year to “get the ball rolling” on recruiting and hiring someone for the job.

“We can go ahead and start preparing all the paperwork and get it out there,” he said. “I think we’re in a great position where we can have a lot of work done.”

The resolution lobbed praise at the outgoing city manager, who has been lauded for his budgetary prowess during his time in Tacoma.

“City Manager T.C. Broadnax has ably served the City Council and the citizens of the city during a challenging period and has created stability, direction, and focus during his tenure,” the resolution reads.

It directs Broadnax to deliver a draft request for qualifications to the city manager performance evaluation committee on or before Jan. 4. This year, that committee consisted of Mayor Marilyn Strickland and council members Marty Campbell, Victoria Woodards and Joe Lonergan, with Councilman Robert Thoms serving as an alternate, according to city staff.

Tuesday night’s meeting was the last time the council will meet in 2016.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 1:09 PM with the headline "City manager to help with the search for his replacement."