The route that Pomeranz took to City Hall is the less-traveled one

CEDAR RAPIDS - One week after the City Council and the city's former city manager, Jim Prosser, parted ways on April 13, the City Council made it clear that it wanted to find a new city manager close to home if there was a special talent that fit the bill.

“Yeah, you can go through the (search-firm) process and it takes forever and ever and ever,”

council member Monica Vernon said on April 20. “And then there are just times when you see … There are certain city managers I know, who, if they said they wanted the job, I might be kind of excited.”

Vernon, who has heads up the council's Personnel Committee that headed up the city's search for a city manager, has delivered on just those words.

Apparently, three city managers were in the running that might fit the profile, one which was shared by a majority of the City Council, including Mayor Ron Corbett. They were Dubuque's Mike Van Milligan, Coralville's Kelly Hayworth, neither of which was interested in the job, and, now we know, Jeff Pomeranz of West Des Moines.

Pomeranz will be introduced at 10 a.m. as the city's new city manager.

For a time in recent weeks, it appeared the City Council would have a repeat of the national search for city manager candidates that it used in 2006 and is often used. At the time, a national search firm brought five finalists to the city, which led to the hiring of Jim Prosser.

The Personnel Committee sought and got proposals from national search firms, however did not push forward to hire one.

At a meeting last month, in which the committee prepared to cull the field of search firms, each of the four committee members, Vernon, Chuck Swore, Don Karr and Justin Shields, mentioned anew that they were continuing to look at finding someone in the “region” without a search firm.

In fact, the temperature was lukewarm at best about a search firm.

Now the city knows what happened.

Vernon and Pomeranz both said on Monday that Vernon was the first to approach Pomeranz via a phone call.

Pomeranz had not sought the job, and he said, he most likely would not have applied for it.

But when Vernon called, he listened, both she and he said.

“I called him out of the blue,” Vernon said. “He knew my name, sure enough.

“He never flinched. You got to get someone who respects the challenge. He didn't say, ‘Yes, Wow.' “He said, ‘OK, tell me about your city.' We talked an hour the first time. He was flattered that we were coming after him.”

Vernon said she discussed Pomeranz individually with all the members of the City Council, and each decided to spend some time getting to know him, as he did with council members.

Vernon said individual meetings took place as well as phone calls. Most council members interacted with Pomeranz two or three times.

Vernon said she now believes that the council is comprised of nine members “who really want this guy to come and be our city manager.”

“You see what he's done in West Des Moines. He can hit the ground running here. He knows the state, he's been active in affairs in the state. He's the guy. He's the very best.”