Efforts to find a new city manager will intensify next week as a city-hired headhunter comes to town to find out what City Hall wants in its new top official.

What the recruiting firm is likely to hear from several commissioners is that the city needs someone unafraid to espouse great ideas, in addition to implementing them.

“Having someone who just implements won’t be enough,” Mayor Mike Amyx said. “I want an individual who will be able to make recommendations on anything from infrastructure to how to bring new companies to town.

“We have to have someone who can really guide us through challenging issues.”

Members of the executive search firm Bennett Yarger and Associates will be in town Monday and Tuesday to meet with city commissioners, staff members and representatives from several neighborhood associations and the business community.

Amyx said the meeting is one of the first steps in the hiring process. He said he still hopes to have a new city manager in place by the end of August.

Advertising for the position hasn’t yet started, but likely will begin in the next two weeks.

“What I’m going to tell the recruiter is that I want somebody who can look at challenges and consider them as opportunities and think creatively to help us figure out those challenges,” Commissioner David Schauner said. “I want somebody who brings a fresh look, not someone who says we can’t do that because we’ve tried it one time and it didn’t work.”

City Commissioner Sue Hack said she’ll want someone who understands the strong role that the universities and the neighborhoods have in the community. A background in infrastructure planning and economic development also will be high on her list.

“And I want to make sure we find someone who we can really reach a consensus on,” Hack said. “If we select someone on a 3-2 vote, I would consider that a failed search.”

Schauner agreed.

“What I don’t want this search to be is the first of many searches over the next few years,” Schauner said. “We need stability in this position.”

Schauner said he anticipated that three to four finalists would be brought in for interviews and tours of the community, but no timeline has been set. Such details, along with how much public participation will be in the process, will be discussed next week.

Hack said she expected there would be public participation in the process, but said she was wary of the search becoming too extended.

“I think we do need some community input, but ultimately it has to be the commission’s decision,” Hack said. “This cannot be a five-year Horizon 2020 type of process.”

Commissioners are seeking a new city manager after Mike Wildgen was forced to resign in March after 16 years as the city’s top executive. A three-member majority of the commission – Hack, Schauner and Commissioner Mike Rundle – cited concerns with planning and infrastructure in asking for Wildgen’s resignation.