East Lansing Extends City Manager Hiring Timeline After Waiting to Choose Search Firm

East Lansing likely won’t have a new city manager until spring 2027 at the earliest, as the City Council’s search for a candidate is expected to begin later than planned, with the selection of a search firm now anticipated in January, about two months behind the previous timeline.

As East Lansing navigates challenges like policing controversies, infrastructure deficiencies and a looming income tax renewal vote, the city is led by an interim city manager in former Planning, Building and Housing Director Annette Irwin. 

East Lansing and former City Manager Robert Belleman parted ways in June, shortly after a city employee accused him of bullying and sexual harassment during a city meeting. 

A council member had previously projected selecting a new manager by February, but that timeline has been extended after council members opted to postpone selecting a search firm at a meeting on Tuesday. Under the new timeline, at a Dec. 15 council meeting, the council will pick a shortlist of search firms to interview. Once a firm is selected, it is expected to conduct a search for city manager candidates that could take up to four months.

Last month, the council began soliciting bids from firms to lead the city manager search. Tuesday’s City Council meeting agenda shows that 14 firms put in bids, with nearly 600 pages of application materials for the council to review. 

“When I suggested the timeline that we were working under initially, I thought we were going to get three or four proposals and then we got 14, and so the week was not enough for me to have the time that I need to look at all the proposals,” Mayor Erik Altmann said.  

Councilmember Kerry Ebersole Singh said she was ready to recommend her preferred firms to bring in for interviews and Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Grigsby said he had three favorites. However, other members of the council said they needed more time to review application materials and possibly ask for additional information. 

Initially, it was suggested that the council discuss preferred firms to bring in for interviews at the Nov. 17 City Council meeting, council’s lone November meeting, however Singh said she will be absent. After Grigsby said he won’t be able to attend the council’s following meeting on Dec. 8, the body decided to choose firms to interview at a Dec. 15 special meeting. 

Based on the timelines described in bids, East Lansing won’t have a new city manager for several months. 

Singh said on the new schedule, the city won’t choose a firm until January or February, which will then start a months-long search process. The shortest proposed timeline for a search is 56 days, but most searches take between 12 weeks and four months. 

There will also be a period between when a city manager candidate is chosen and when they take over in the city’s top position. When Belleman was selected in 2023, this gap was about a month-and-a-half. 

There is a wide disparity in what the firms charge for the search. The base cost ranges from $15,400 to upwards of $40,000, with each firm offering add-on services that could substantially increase the price. 

Before the Dec. 15 meeting, Altmann asked other council members to share their preferred firms and evaluation materials that helped them reach their decision.