Cortez City Council plans to narrow its list of candidates for the city manager position to 10 next week.

City Manager John Dougherty announced his resignation earlier this year, agreeing to stay on until April 30 to ensure a smooth transition. Dougherty said he was resigning because he wanted more time with his family.

According to the city manager’s weekly report, the application process closed late last month. Of the 45 applicants, 31% were Colorado residents, and 69% were from one of 17 other states.

Council plans a closed, executive session next week with its hired recruiter to narrow the field to about 10 candidates for Zoom interviews.

Cortez hired executive search firm Peckham & McKenney Inc. to help find a city manager.

The firm has conducted more than 200 city manager and other executive position searches for communities including Telluride, San Miguel County, Durango, Timnath, Wellington and Windsor.

The final two or three interviews will be in person.

According to Dougherty’s weekly report, City Council has not named an interim city manager, but he believes that decision will be made soon.

Updates on the hiring process come as the city looks to sort out financial problems of the past few years. The city has contended with the coronavirus pandemic, an embezzlement investigation and years of backed-up financial audits. The audit backlog has prevented Cortez from being eligible to apply for state grants or receive its property taxes.

anicotera@the-journal.com