CEDAR RAPIDS – Cedar Rapids City Council will hire Jeff Pomeranz as the next City Manager on Tuesday, June 22. City officials introduced him on Wednesday. It was the first time anyone in the public even knew he was a candidate.

Over the past few months, the council has held public forums for people to discuss everything ranging from the new library to flood protection options. Members have stressed and campaigned on being transparent and letting everyone know what they’re doing.

In the past, high-profile jobs like the Flood Recovery Director, the Police Chief, the Fire Chief and even former City Manager Jim Prosser went through a public interview and selection process.

Mayor Ron Corbett makes no apologies for keeping the City Manager search private.

“We didn’t say we were going to do it the old way and bring in ten people and have coffee and donuts with people at the library and let them walk up and introduce themselves and quiz people. We never said that,” Corbett said.

Council members agreed to hire Pomeranz after each member met with him individually behind closed doors.

“Why would we be public? …. What we told people right from the beginning when Jim Prosser resigned was that we are going to do a regional search,” Corbett said.

All nine council members unanimously support Pomeranz, but several admitted to TV9 the process clashed with their promise to be open.

“It’s not a process I would approve of, but that said, this is where we’re at today and we’ll go forward,” council member Tom Podzimek said. “Mr. Corbett told me only twenty-five people in the world are really going to care and it will all blow over. So, I guess, we’ll see.”

KCRG-TV9 found one of those people.

“I think it’s kinda sneaky. I wonder, personally, if Corbett just kind of put in who he wanted to. Nobody got to look at him. Nobody saw a resume. I know nothing about this guy except that he came from, I believe, West Des Moines,” Cedar Rapids resident Mary Dobrochowski said. “It’s not transparency I can see through. It is definitely a cloudy window.”

Others trust their elected officials.

“I have full faith in the council. I think it’s wonderful they can make good decisions and make ‘em fast instead of making things last years and years,” Cedar Rapids resident Russ Gunderson said. “The members on the council are capable of making that decision. They worked really hard trying to get to that decision.”
Mayor Corbett said, “Frankly, I don’t think it’s a big issue…We made the call. We’ll be responsible for any criticism that people may have about what we did, but we think we got a top-notch candidate.”

No one on the council questions Pomeranz’s qualifications. However, Podzimek fears the closed door deal to get him to Cedar Rapids will set a bad precedent.

“For a lot of individuals, they will become untrustworthy of government because they had no opportunity to see how these decisions were being made,” Podzimek said. “I think we are really almost operating under a ‘strong mayor’ form of government now in which you have subcommittees making decisions and just rolling them out for the public to see.”
The community will eventually meet Pomeranz when he starts as City Manager within a few months.

Council members will officially hire him next week. He will earn $225,000 a year. That’s $60,000 more than former City Manager Jim Prosser.

Mayor Corbett told KCRG-TV9 people had plenty of chances to offer comments and suggestions about whom to hire, even though the city never hosted a formal forum or open house.

“They’ve been telling us what type of person they wanted us to go look for. So, that’s what we decided to do,” Corbett said. “We’re moving forward and getting some momentum. People are feeling good about the future of Cedar Rapids.”

Watch full interview: