Los Altos Hires Search Agency to Find City Manager Candidates

The City Council has hired William Avery & Associates Inc. to find City Manager Doug Schmitz's replacement when he steps down.

For nearly 30 years, the Los Gatos-based headhunter firm has specialized in executive search, labor relations and human resources/management consulting.

In 2007, it also successfully picked the outgoing city manager, who announced his retirement just before the Labor Day weekend, said Mayor Ron Packard. That was a big factor in retaining the firm again, he added.

"An ad hoc city manager search committee, consisting of myself and Mayor Pro Tem Val Carpenter, will work closely with Bill Avery and his team to manage the recruitment process," Packard said.

The ad-hoc team hopes to identify new candidates and make a hire early enough so there would be a smooth transition before Schmitz leaves.

"By once again hiring Avery Associates, we will benefit from the in-depth knowledge of Los Altos that they developed in the 2007 search,” said Carpenter, who served on the search committee that chose Schmitz. She added that the city had saved itself a month in the search, because it would not have to spend any time identifying a qualified executive search firm.