A series of key hires to be made by St. Paul Mayor-elect Melvin Carter will be evaluated by committees of residents and policy experts in coming weeks.

Carter will assemble 10 review panels to screen, interview and help him choose department leaders before the end of the year. Carter will be sworn in as mayor in January.

Carter, to be the city’s first black mayor and one of its youngest, plans to surround himself by top administrators recommended by up to 80 members of the public, rather than hand-picking them.

“It is ambitious, but it is the way we should go about doing public hiring,” said incoming Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher on Monday. “When we think about the people who will be leading major parts of the administration, it’s important we get a broad cross-section of people who are interested in applying for those jobs. Being able to really hear the feedback about the different qualities that these people bring, that’s all going to be really helpful and important information for Mayor-Elect Carter.”

Carter’s campaign team announced the selection of Tincher — outgoing Chief of Staff to Gov. Mark Dayton — a week ago.

Beyond that, Carter — who won the 10-way race for the mayor’s seat by a landslide on Nov. 7 — has been mum on major staffing announcements, until now.

On Monday, Carter announced in a statement that 10 panels composed of eight community members, policy experts and civic leaders apiece will screen applications for city attorney, library director, director of financial services, director of public works, director of emergency management and other key positions.

DEPARTMENT LEADERS MUST REAPPLY

Department leaders will be required to reapply for their jobs if they hope to stay on next year.

Applicants, as well as community leaders who wish to serve on the hiring panels, can email Toni Newborn, the city’s Diversity and Consulting Services Manager, at Toni.Newborn@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

Information about each position will be available online as of 9 a.m. Tuesday at governmentjobs.com/careers/stpaul.

The state of Minnesota has used public panels before to screen applicants for certain state positions, including the chief inclusion officer for the governor’s office two years ago.

Otherwise, said Tincher, “I’m not familiar with a transition team doing a process like this.”

A statement released by Emily Weber, a spokeswoman for both the Carter campaign and the transition, said:

“This open, transparent process marks a significant break from the insider decision-making process that too often formed transition processes in past decades. This approach to hiring will ensure that a diverse, community-centered group of voices lead in the selection of these crucial positions to guide the future of St. Paul.”

The process is expected to move quickly. Applications will be accepted online until 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 7.

The 10 community hiring panels will interview candidates Dec. 12-14. Their evaluations will be submitted to Carter, who expects to fill all the positions by Jan. 2.

Tincher acknowledged that for executive-level positions, cities and states usually hold the application period open for two or three weeks.

The 10-day application process reflects the need to get positions screened quickly.

Assembling the eight-person panels will be labor-intensive, and the panels will have to meet simultaneously to interview candidates.

“It would be upwards of 80 people participating,” she said.

POLICE, FIRE EXEMPT

Certain city positions are hired under contract, by a public board or under a term set by city ordinance, and would not be subject to the new transition process.

Those positions include the St. Paul Police Chief, Fire Chief, Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity Director and the general manager of the St. Paul Regional Water Services.

Some policy experts believe that Carter’s chosen transition process, while unusual in appearance, will probably yield the same results as a more closed-door process.

Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, doesn’t expect surprises.

“Outwardly, this sounds more responsive to the community,” Jacobs said. “But I would not assume that. Who is selected depends on who is on the committee and who chairs it. As we’ve already seen with some key appointments, Carter is picking people he trusts. The process may appear different but the outcome — choosing trusted officials — will likely follow the common pattern.”

Hamline University Professor of Political Science David Schultz, who served on a transition team for a mayor in upstate New York in the 1980s, said it’s not uncommon for executive leaders to use two or three close associates to help choose key positions.

On the other hand, Schultz noted, assembling multiple larger committees reflective of the community is a departure from tradition.

“If we’re truly talking about a broad community of people who are going to be consulted and advising on mayoral appointments, that would be breaking the mold,” Schultz said.