The Cottonwood City Council gave direction to city staff Aug. 16 to begin proceedings for an in-house recruitment process to hire a new city manager.
Current City Manager Ron Corbin had recently informed council he was in negotiations for a contract with the city of Avondale to become its new city manager. The Avondale City Council voted Aug. 22 to hire Corbin.
Corbin, who has been Cottonwood’s city manager for the past four years, said he is leaving Cottonwood because he and his wife were looking for a more urban area with more amenities.
“Nothing bad here, just wanting to be back in the big city,” Corbin said.
Prior to becoming Cottonwood’s city manager, Corbin worked as the deputy city manager of Yuma, Arizona, where he lived for more than 20 years.
Corbin said that Avondale is comparable to Yuma in terms of size, and offers more shopping and entertainment options than Cottonwood.
“We’re sad to see you go,” Cottonwood’s Human Resources Risk Manager Amanda Wilber said at the Aug. 16 city council meeting.
Wilber will be leading the recruitment process, which will include a national search for qualified applicants, beginning the first week of September and lasting for approximately seven weeks.
The applicants will be required to submit a cover letter, resume and additional information, such as writing samples, for the city to review.
Wilber emphasized the importance of reviewing the quality of the applicants’ writing abilities and stated “A city manager does do quite a bit of [writing] in their process.”
Once the city narrows down their selection of potential candidates, they will begin in-person interviews toward the end of October.
Wilber said she hopes that by that point, the city will have an idea of who the next city manager might be even if they do not overlap with Corbin, who is scheduled to depart in November.
Mayor Tim Elinski stated that because of the “rushed” nature of the hiring process, he did not believe there would be any overlap and that the city may need to hire an interim city manager.
“I really feel like we’re going to get a new city manager seated sometime around the first of the year,” he said.
Corbin described his position as “a gem” and stated that someone would be very fortunate to have it.
Corbin provided the Cottonwood Journal Extra with a number of accomplishments the city has achieved during his time as city manager, while stating “These accomplishments happened not because of me, but because of the hard work and dedication of the Cottonwood team and the leadership and clear vision provided by Cottonwood’s City Council.”
Some of the accomplishments include the town achieving financial stability, with increased investment in infrastructure; building a great team who are dedicated to Cottonwood and her residents; purchase of the new city hall; annexation of Sawmill Gardens and Spring Creek; building of the new play structure at Kid’s Park; partnerships with community organizations such as the Old Town Association, Friends of the Verde River and the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce; increased transparency to include monthly budget reports and community meetings regarding the budget; restructuring the city to improve customer service, specifically being open for business, and increased accountability; cementing the Cottonwood brand: “The Heart of Arizona Wine Country”; furthering tourism efforts to help make Cottonwood a destination, e.g., the new Springhill Suites.
Corbin said that the greatest challenge facing the city in the future is growth.
“Council wants the city to continue to grow but retain the small town feel of Cottonwood,” Corbin said. “This means additional projects, housing, businesses and more. The new manager will have to work just as hard to make sure Cottonwood retains its values associated with being a small town.”
For more information, visit cottonwoodaz.gov.
