CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The process to select a new Clearlake city administrator is approaching the final stages, with the announcement of a final candidate expected within a few weeks.

Interim City Administrator Steve Albright said over the past month the Clearlake City Council has been reviewing resumes and letters of interest from a number of interested candidates.

The council decided to work as a whole on the selection rather than creating a subcommittee, which has necessitated agendized meetings. Because it's a personnel discussion, Albright said the meetings have been held in closed session.

Albright said the council narrowed the candidates down, conducted phone interviews two weeks ago and then further reduced the field to four people, who he called “very, very good candidates.”

The council is interviewing those four individuals in person this week, he said.

Two of the candidates were interviewed in a closed session on Wednesday, and the remaining two will meet with the council on Saturday, Albright added.

In the final stages of the recruitment, “What you're now looking for is really the fit,” Albright said.

If the council members can agree, Albright they could be contacting a final candidate as early as next week in order to open negotiations on the terms of employment and begin a background check.

The goal, said Albright, is to have a new city administrator to announce to the community on May 12, with the new administrator likely to start around the start of June.

Albright, who joined the city on an interim basis in February after retiring as city manager from the North Coast city of Trinidad, said his last day will most likely be in the second week of June.

He said he's enjoyed his time working with the city of Clearlake, but he's looking forward to heading back home to Humboldt County.

In his short time with the city, Albright has appeared to enjoy a working relationship with the council and with community members that has helped him approach some challenging issues.

On Tuesday he took to the Clearlake Planning Commission a medical marijuana dispensary ordinance that the commission, following a lengthy meeting, voted unanimously to send forward to the city council.

Albright said at a recent council meeting that he's close to announcing a settlement on the Sierra Club Lake Group's lawsuit against the city and KK Raphel Properties LLC over the proposed shopping center plan at the now-closed Pearce Field airport property on Highway 53.

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