City manager candidates named

The Hot Springs board of directors announced recently the names of the four candidates for the position of Hot Springs city manager.  They include Larry R. Deetjen, current Village Manager and CEO of the City of Oak Lawn, IL; Jeffrey Earl Repp, former City Administrator of the City of Cumberland, MD; Randall G. Dowling, current County Administrator of Gordon County, GA; and David Watkins, former City Manager of the City of Bryan, TX.  Attached are the candidates’ resumes.

The candidates will arrive in Hot Springs on Thursday, March 29 and will tour city facilities.  On Friday, March 30, they will meet informally in the morning with the board of directors, followed by a series of meetings and a brown bag lunch with city staff members.   In the evening, the public is invited to meet and greet the candidates at an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Grand Lobby of the Hot Springs Convention Center.

On Saturday, the candidates will undergo formal interviews in executive session with the Board of Directors at the Central Fire Station.  Strategic Government Resources of Keller, TX, the professional search firm contracted by the board of directors to carry out the search for city manager due to the upcoming retirement of current city manager Lance Hudnell, will oversee the candidates’ schedule of activities.