East Ridge City Hall

East Ridge City Council members voted to interview three candidates for the city manager post formerly held by Tim Gobble.

The city received 30 applications; three candidates qualify for the position under the city's charter.

Those three candidates are: Hamilton County Judicial Commissioner Larry Ables; Hattiesburg, Miss., Director of Federal and State Programs Andrew Allard; and Fairview, Tenn., City Manager Andrew Hyatt.

If those candidates accept the invitation, they will come to East Ridge for an in-person interview. A second interview will follow if council members think they need one.

This will be the second round of interviews for the city. They interviewed other candidates earlier this year and offered the job to Chris Dorsey in May, but he declined and took a similar gig with Signal Mountain.

Of the 30 candidates, 16 held master's degrees in public administration. But those candidates do not qualify under the city charter because it requires the city manager to hold a bachelor's degree - anything further does not work.