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Charlottesville has received 37 applications for its city manager position.

Applications to be the next administrative head of the city were due Monday.

Councilor Heather Hill said officials weren’t focused on the number of applicants, but their quality.

“I didn’t come into this with a target number of applications, but a desire to make sure we attracted a strong pool of candidates,” she said.

The applicants are looking to replace former City Manager Maurice Jones, who left in July 2018 and became the town manager of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At his departure, Jones was paid $191,500.

City Council had announced in May it would not renew Jones’ contract. He was among roughly a half dozen high-ranking city officials to depart following the fallout of the 2017 Unite the Right rally.

Assistant City Manager Mike Murphy was appointed interim city manager in July after another candidate turned down the job. Murphy is still being paid the $152,475 salary he made as assistant city manager; his appointment is slated to end no later than Aug. 1.