Mayor-elect Melvin Carter is looking for 10 leaders to run the city’s departments — and 80 members of the public to help choose them. And he needs applications by Thursday.

Carter’s transition team on Friday unveiled a webpage that outlines the 10 positions opening up in his cabinet, as well as how to apply to sit on one of the 10 community hiring panels that will screen and recommend applicants.

The panels, which were announced Monday, will consist of roughly eight people each, chosen from community residents and civic leaders. The goal is to interview applicants and have a new administration in place by early January. As of the end of the day Friday, the team had received just under 100 letters of interest from prospective panelists.

“You don’t have to be a St. Paul resident, but you have to have a vested interest in the success of our city,” said Emily Weber, a spokeswoman for the transition team. “We’re welcoming letters of interest from anybody who wants to help build a city that works for all of us. … We’ll have more interested people than we’ll have seats on the panels.”

The 10 department leadership positions are St. Paul city attorney and directors of financial services, planning and economic development, public works, safety and inspections, technology and communications, emergency management, human resources, library, and parks and recreation.

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How Mayor Carter’s proposed budget will impact libraries, Fire Dept., Public Works The application period for the positions and the hiring panels opened Tuesday morning. Applications will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Dec. 7. In mid-December, the panelists will undergo a three-hour orientation and then determine which candidates to interview. The 10 community hiring panels will interview candidates privately Dec. 18 through Dec. 20 and recommend a slate of finalists for consideration. Candidates should expect to devote up to three eight-hour weekdays to interviews.

At that point, the names of the finalists may become public, said Weber, noting the team is abiding by the longstanding practice of the city’s Human Resources Department.

Carter and Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher will hire director-level positions by Jan. 2.

Descriptions of each position are available online at governmentjobs.com/careers/stpaul/. Those interested in applying for openings or serving on the panels should contact Toni Newborn at Toni.Newborn@ci.stpaul.mn.us. For more information, visit the city’s Office of the Mayor-elect page.