Amarillo might not be wallowing in the administrative darkness much longer, according to Mayor Paul Harpole.

Good deal? Let’s hope so.

The City Council reportedly has culled a list of 30 or so city manager applicants to around 10 … give or take an undisclosed number. Harpole said the council will announce a list of finalists quite soon, maybe next week.

Then the city will interview the finalists in a sort of public audition, Harpole explained.

http://amarillo.com/local-news/2016-12-20/amarillo-city-council-narrows-hunt-city-manager

This public audition more or less falls in line with what has been done at Amarillo College as it has sought to select college presidents. It’s a good way to go. It enables the public to size up the individuals who are competing for a chance to assume a highly public office.

In the case of the city manager, we’re talking about someone who would oversee a significant government bureaucracy. He or she will command a budget of several hundred million dollars, which pay for services for a city comprising around 200,000 residents.

Amarillo City Hall has been through a pretty rough spell for the past year or so.

City Manager Jarrett Atkinson quit more than a year ago. The City Council hired an interim manager, Terry Childers, who immediately got into a significant public relations kerfuffle involving a misplaced briefcase and the Amarillo Emergency Communications Center. The council commenced a search, then called it off. Childers then popped off to a constituent and called him a “stupid son of a b****.” Childers then quit and went back to Oklahoma City.

This is the backdrop that the crop of finalists will confront.

The winner of this contest then will get to steady the municipal ship.

Let’s all hope for the best as the council proceeds with the only hiring decision the City Charter empowers it to make.

The City Council needs to get this one right.