After discussing the hiring process to bring in a new city administrator at the last three Sunset Valley City Council meetings, council members March 5 selected recruiting firm Strategic Government Resources to help fill the future vacancy. Based on the proposal submitted by SGR, the company will meet with council and city staff to determine the needs of the city. The company will also post the job online to websites that total a reach of about 158,000 and will vet candidates. After cutting down the pool of candidates, final candidates will be interviewed by council and the mayor. City Administrator Clay Collins announced in January his plans to retire at the end of April. City Council has since met Feb. 5 to discuss finding a new city administrator and held a public workshop Feb. 19 to discuss the topic further. On Feb. 26, a list of five recruiting firms was brought to council. SGR and firm Affion were selected as finalists over firms Chris Hartung Consulting, Johnson and Associates, and Springsted-Waters. Council also edited an initial set of job qualifications for the city administrator position at the Feb. 26 meeting. The city will seek a candidate who has administrative and economic development experience in both the public and private sector. Council Member Phil Ellett noted Sunset Valley's unique need for local businesses to generate operating revenue for the city as reasons to look for a candidate familiar with the private sector to help bring new businesses to the community. Council Member Melissa Gonzales on Feb. 26 felt council could be pushing qualified candidates away from the position, including internal candidates currently with the city, by setting minimum requirements too high. The job qualification had initially requested candidates with experience managing a $10 million operating budget, but council lowered that number to get it closer to Sunset Valley's budget of about $8 million. Gonzales said Sunset Valley's small-town feel and low population make it necessary to find candidates who have experience working in smaller-sized cities.