ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Members of the Roanoke City Council say they are making progress in their search for a new city manager.

They plan to interview several candidates later this week.

The city launched a national search after Bob Cowell resigned in June. Since then, board members have said they are satisfied with the number of applications and the quality of the candidates.

Trish White-Boyd is chair of the City Council Personnel Committee.

“Some naysayers said, ‘oh, it’s going to be a challenge.’ It wasn’t a challenge, because Roanoke is very desirable,” White-Boyd said. “With the help of the Berkley Group, they received over 40 applications. They reduced it to 18, then this council reduced it to seven.”

The City Council will meet with these seven candidates in two sessions this week: interviewing four candidates on Wednesday and three on Thursday.

Council member Bev Fitzpatrick said it was an important decision for council to make.

“Having seen some great city managers and some not-so-great city managers in my lifetime, I would certainly like to think we’re going to go for gold this time and find the best one we can, because Roanoke has so much great potential and we have a lot to do,” Fitzpatrick said.

Interim City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton is not a candidate for the permanent position.

Current council members expect to make the decision themselves and not leave a choice to the new members who will be seated in January.

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