SANGER – Finding qualified applicants for a prospective city position has proven to be no walk in the park, but the city of Sanger has found a way to increase recruitment.
On Aug. 21, the Sanger City Council voted 3-1 to amend the job description and experience requirements for the prospective Parks and Recreation Director position. Councilmember Dolores Melendez was absent. The new description has lessened the experience necessary to be considered in an effort to widen the applicant pool.
The position was officially allocated on Jan. 16, and approved the original job description and salary range on Feb. 6. The original description called for “eight years of extensive administrative experience in a full-service municipal or county government agency, including three years in a management position.”
The amended description now calls for five years of increasing responsibility managing parks and recreation programs, be it public, educational, non-profit, municipal or governmental. The motivation behind these changes stems from issues the city had with finding qualified applicants.
Through recruitment efforts under the original requirements, the city narrowed down three applicants for a final interview. An offer was made to one applicant, and another rescinded their application. The applicant who received the offer then withdrew their application while in the background phase.
The final applicant was then interviewed, but an offer of employment was not made.
With all eligible applicants exhausted, the city needed to run another recruitment. To prevent simply receiving applications from the same people, City Manager Nathan Olson thought it best to open the application to more applicants.
After a brief discussion, the amendments passed with relative ease with only Councilmember Esmeralda Hurtado voting against it, arguing that the “administrative” part of the description should be kept to maintain a certain level of qualification.
Those who wish to put their hat in the ring may do so on the city’s job opportunities page, found at www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sanger. Though the job listing has not yet been posted as of Aug. 25, the Parks and Recreation Department recommends applicants keep an eye out for it.
