City candidate has second interview

STAFF REPORT

City commissioners and Clovis Mayor David Lansford held a second, two-hour interview Friday with a finalist for the Clovis city manager position, former Roswell City Manager Larry Fry.

“It was a very nice interview with Mr. Fry,” Lansford said after the group emerged from an executive session. “We did want to meet with him again and ask some additional questions, have him ask us questions and see if there's any opportunity there to move forward.”

Fry declined to comment on the interview.

Lansford made it clear that no final decision has been made, and the commission expects to interview a few more candidates for a second time before making a decision.

Another candidate is Jonathan Batt, an attorney from Lone Tree, Colorado, who is also vying for the executive director position at the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority.

As far as Fry having a good shot at being the city manager, Lansford said it was hard to say “while things are undecided.”

“Obviously we're not excluding anybody at this point,” Lansford said. “He was our first choice to come back for a second interview. He's got a tremendous amount of experience, but he's not the only candidate that's being considered”

The mayor and commissioners asked Fry questions regarding hiring procedures, working with other department heads and how he would handle a homicide in the city.

“He's very familiar with that,” Lansford said. “We've got some major department head transitions taking place with those folks retiring, so he would be hiring some key positions.”

Lansford said the City Manager Joe Thomas is retiring soon, but waiting to do so until a final decision has been made on his successor.

“(Thomas has) been very kind and making sure he doesn't leave us in a lurch,” Lansford said.