Why Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson paused the search for a new city manager
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson announced during Tuesday night’s Columbus Council meeting the search for the next city manager will be paused for three to six months.
The search for a new city manager began in March in anticipation of former city manager Isaiah Hugley’s retirement at the end of 2025. The search didn’t change after the council fired Hugley with a 7-3 vote in May, but Henderson previously told the Ledger-Enquirer they aimed to fill the position by early January.
This timeline now has been delayed.
“I’m not going to submit a name at this point for city manager,” Henderson said during the meeting.
One reason for this delay is to provide more time for a “comprehensive look at salaries throughout the government,” Henderson said. This includes positions at the higher level, he said.
“If we’re not able to compete with people in some of these hires, we have to make a decision,” he said. “This council will ultimately make the decision. And I think that needs to come before the council at budget time so that y’all can see exactly what we’re doing.”
Henderson said he also feels confident in the Columbus Consolidated Government’s organizational structure, with deputy city managers Pam Hodge and Lisa Goodwin sharing the duties of the city manager since the firing of Hugley, who is running for mayor.
“They’re doing a fine job,” said Henderson, who can’t seek reelection in 2026 because of the city’s two-term limit for mayor. “I think we can continue to do that as we determine when to go back out.”
How long will the pause in the Columbus city manager search last?
Henderson estimated the pause in the search would last about three to six months before they begin looking for more applicants again.
“That’s a recommendation made by the search firm that we hired,” he said.
The firm, Mercer Group Associates of Arizona, told him there is nothing wrong with taking a break to reassess the pay and benefit package, Henderson said.
A job ad for the position listed two starting salary ranges: $210,000-$225,000 and $210,000-$250,000. Hugley had a salary of $213,278.52 — the highest in CCG when he was fired.
“We’re still moving forward,” Henderson said. “But we are hitting the pause button because we think if we go back out, we need to put a little air between where we are now and where we’ll be then.”
Who is helping to select the new city manager in Columbus?
Four councilors were involved in helping narrow the existing pool of candidates from around seven to eight candidates to about five, Henderson said. Henderson didn’t disclose the names of those four councilors, and nobody in the mayor’s office answered that question from the Ledger-Enquirer before publication.
Two panels conducted interviews with the candidates, Henderson said. One panel comprised city managers and county managers who understand the job and business, he said. The other panel comprised other stakeholders, including one Columbus councilor, he said.
In March, Henderson appointed five community leaders to an advisory board to help with the city manager search:
- Audrey Boone Tillman, general counsel for Aflac
- The Rev. Marcus Gibson, pastor of Greater Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church
- Richard Bishop, former assistant city manager and former CEO of Uptown Columbus
- Billy Blanchard, director of Covey Equity and former executive vice president of Columbus Bank & Trust
- Former Columbus Councilor Robert Wright, founder and chairman emeritus of Dimensions International.
Among the five city manager candidates, one withdrew because of family health issues, Henderson said. He could not disclose publicly why he declined to put forth any of the other candidates now because of personnel reasons, Henderson told the council.
Restarting the search is not an unusual tactic to use if “you don’t find people that you can negotiate with and end up coming to some meeting of the minds,” Henderson said.
Councilor Byron Hickey wants more answers
Councilor Byron Hickey of District 1 requested an executive session closed to the public to learn more about why Henderson would not recommend a candidate now, given that the position is vacant and there are candidates.
“If you could give us a name of somebody you want to recommend now, give us the opportunity to talk about it a little bit first instead of pushing it out six months,” said Hickey, who is running for mayor.
The mayor is responsible to present the council a “plausible candidate” for the council to approve, Henderson told Hickey.
“It’s not a set time to restart the search,” Henderson said. “It’s just guidance that we get from the company that we hired.”
At the end of the meeting, the council went into executive session to discuss personnel and potential litigation. They did not take any action or vote on anything during the closed session, Henderson said, and they adjourned the council meeting upon returning to open session.
