Search underway for next Gaithersburg city manager

Mayor says replacement might be hired in summer

By Dan Schere

Gaithersburg has started looking for its next city manager, and Mayor Jud Ashman said someone might be hired this summer.

The city advertised the position on its website on March 20, stating that the first review of applications would be on April 27. The mayor and city council will appoint the city manager.

City Manager Tony Tomasello announced in January that he would step down May 7. Tomasello has been the city manager since 2012, and has served in other positions with the city since 1996.

The city manager’s duties include preparing the city’s budget, making sure laws and ordinances are carried out, overseeing the city staff and managing other day-to-day activities.

The job advertisement lists the salary range as $200,000 to $230,000, depending on qualifications. It states that the minimum qualifications include at least 10 years of local government experience with “demonstrated leadership as an executive-level administrator/manager, assistant administrator/manager, or department director.”

The city manager is not required to be a Gaithersburg resident.

Ashman said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that despite the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last month, he expects that the city will hire someone for the position by the summer.

Interviews will only happen once the applicant pool has been narrowed down to a few candidates, he said.

“If we have to make some adjustments, where it’s something that would have been in person, over Skype or Zoom or something, we’ll have to do that. But it’s hard to tell at this point,” he said.

Ashman said he thinks interviews could happen later this spring or early in the summer.

Gaithersburg has retained The Novak Consulting Group, an executive search firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, to help with the search, Ashman said. The firm helped the city of Rockville in a previous search for a city manager, he said.

“They may help narrow the pool down if we get a lot of responses. We continue to think this is a very attractive position and hopefully we will get a lot of responses,” he said.

Catherine Tuck Parrish, a representative of Novak who is based in the Washington, D.C. area, referred all questions about the search to the city of Gaithersburg.

The cost of the contract to retain Novak was $26,900, the city’s human resources director, Kim Yocklin, wrote in an email Thursday.

Deputy City Manager Dennis Enslinger will take over the city manager position on an interim basis following Tomasello’s departure next month. Enslinger will oversee the remainder of the county’s budget process, Ashman said.

The mayor and council are scheduled to vote on the budget in early June.

Ashman said Tomasello will continue to oversee the budget process this month. A public hearing is scheduled for Monday and a work session for April 27.

Monday’s public hearing will be conducted virtually because of the coronavirus. Ashman said residents may call in to the meeting to comment or send their comments by email to the city.

Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@bethesdamagazine.com