Peoria’s City Manager Scott Moore has been announced as a finalist for the city manager position in San Marcos, Texas, according to the San Marcos Daily Record:
The San Marcos City Council has announced three finalists for the position of City Manager following two days of interviews.
They are Jeffrey Howell, city manager of Kilgore, Scott Moore, city manager of Peoria, Ill [emphasis added], and Jim Nuse, city manager of Round Rock.
They will be invited back for a second round of interviews with the City Council and a public meet and greet to be held on Wednesday, Sept. 22 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the City of San Marcos Conference Center, 3101 S. IH 35.
San Marcos is located about halfway between Austin and San Antonio in south central Texas and has a population of about 35,000. The City Manager job description for San Marcos is available here. Scott Moore started as Peoria City Manager in August 2009.
UPDATE: The City of Peoria has released a statement from City Manager, Scott Moore:
City Manager Scott Moore is a finalist for the position of City Manager in St. Marcos, Texas. As a young professional, Scott has been sought out by other communities; however, this particular location would provide him with the opportunity to be closer to family. “I enjoy the challenges that we are working through in the City of Peoria, and it is also humbling to be approached by other communities who believe you possess the qualities that could be an asset to their organization,” said Moore.
Wow. Moore must really be unhappy here.
how much is it going to cost to get rid of this one?
If he is leaving on his own, it shouldn’t “cost” anything to say goodbye.
Of course, hiring a new person is never cheap.
Moore know shen to hold em, knows when to fold them. I could have told “youall”.
The system in our schools doesn’t work, our city mayor/manager system doesn’t work, Heartland Parnership doesn’t_________fill in the blanks, Millions are needed to fund the PRM, Wildlife Prairie, millions to complete the African Zoo, minus one giraffe, millions for sewers, millions for our aging water systems, hundreds of millions to pay off bonds we are or plan to sell, rising taxes, businesses leaving (think Caterpillar jobs to Texas, Tennessee and N. Carolina, and I forgot, Ohio,) millions to satisfy Big Al’s, millions for illegals and welfare, millions for the Childrens Playhouse,………..etc.
Has this hit the PJS yet?
Merle hit it on the head…
When are you all going to realize that bureaucracies are set up to do exactly this… get a job, update your resume and move on…
It is the same thing in the school district and government…
If you don’t stay at a job, you aren’t responsible for anything.
Yet, we continue to hire these resume jumpers and go look for another candidate every couple of years. (There are always the “sign on bonus” and “pay off the contract” scams too.)
How long was he here? A year?
My guess would be that Mr. Moore has figured out that he is a better person than the job he was hired for. Good for him.
I wasn’t aware he was even looking for another position. When did this happen? Where did I miss the boat on this one? Unfortunately we never get rid of the ones we need to get rid of. They just stick around year after year after year and we keep putting up with their stuff.
Moore is the least controversial city managers in my memory.
Consider that is is from Texas and might just be homesick.
yup, Billy, agree.
I suspect, and this is an educated guess, that he doesn’t much like the gig up here. I have no idea what his reasons are….
charlie, since you’ve likely never been an executive i’m not sure what the heck you’re talking about. i would say of all the comments emerge and merle are correct. didn’t bush leave the county for the same reasons?
According to a commenter on PJS Website, who says they know Scott personally….the Texas job would move him closer to family, and his
mother is not doing very well. That kind of reason for leaving is understandable.
Moore is scheduled to be interviewed for our CAPtions show next Wednesday…about his job so far in Peoria…wonder if he will know
something by then?
Your city manager shouldn’t pack his bags. Our Mayor Queen Susan I wants the manager from Round Rock and will shove him down our throats. Our manager process has been rushed in just two months so that she can lock up her man in the city before our elections in november (she is not running).
A San Marcos posting! Amazing.
I didn’t realize CJ had a San Marcos bureau chief!
Moore hasn’t been here long enough for him to be controversial.
First of all, I don’t fault Moore for seeking and accepting, if offered, a position closer to family, etc. This is exactly the risk the city and the District 150 board take when they hire people from other parts of the country. I believe the new hires and Dr. Lathan will given their best to Peoria while they are here (whether or not we all agree on the decisions, etc.) However, we don’t need to expect any kind of real loyalty to District 150 and its future–and we can’t expect them to stay long enough to see if what they started is a success or a failure. City managers, school superintentents, etc., who are willing to relocate, quite often are using one job as a stepping stone to another. That’s just the way it is.
Exactly right Sharon.
I hope the City will learn from this experience, wheher he gets the job or not, that the City will have an escape claus where theyd do ot have to pay any contractee good bye money if they leave within a reasonable period of time after signing the contract. How can we depend on these employees when we allow them to get away with this if we compensate them for early leaving.
Maybe he didn’t support the museum…?
” since you’ve likely never been an executive ”
Oops, you are wrong… I was. It was actually part of my title. Account Executive.
I don’t follow Peoria city government all that much, but I had heard before what commenters are saying in response to the PJS article. Is it true that Moore hasn’t been given much to do in Peoria–that there has been a change in leadership policy and/or practice in that the mayor, not the city manager, is running things?
So what are the qualifications for the fairly lucrative position of city manager? Do we not have local candidates with the creds?
We probably do have locals with the creds. But there are problems with that. They usually come into the job with preconceived opinions about everything and everybody. With someone from the outside we get a fresh look at the entire complex situation and that is beneficial to the community. Fresh eyes, fresh opinion, unbiased opinions.
Sharon: With all due respect I do expect these people like Lathan and Moore to stay and make sure their policies are successful and if not, then figure out what steps to take next. These people aren’t here out of the goodness of their hearts. They are here because we pay them 6 figures a year in a contract that usually allows them to walk out with a nice parachute of benefits. You make the big bucks, then you should be expected to make the big plays. Being all so wishy washy on Lathan, why?
Just curious – if this were a private sector job, what would happen to an administrator if someone found out he or she was actively seeking employment elsewhere?
Moore had a two year contract paying in excess of 100K (166K I believe). The contract doesn’t state that he had to stick around for two years to collect the pay. So if I understand correctly, Moore will get over 300K for one years work. Who the hell writes contracts such as these? What easy money? Work for a year, get paid for two! Hah! How absurd and stupid!
HUH, I don’t believe the city will have to pay him yr 2 if he leaves of his own volition.
I would think if he leaves of his own accord, to accept another position that he will be breaking his contract, therefore no pay for year 2 or golden parachute. If he does get paid beyond his final work day, then the attorney that wrote the contract ought to follow him out the door.
Well, I received a phone call this afternoon from his office: Mr. Moore cancelled his TV taping for Wednesday because he will be in Texas…for the final set of interviews. Darn.
This is Resume Building 101 in action. Peoria must be bad if he is leaving.
THANK YOU Emtronics for also seeing the wishy-washy comments from some people about Lathan and her out of town crew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The screwy thing is that they will write another one of those big golden contracts again & again & again, etc. It’s only taxpayer money and the taxpayers have deep pockets too.