Morro Bay city manager a finalist for a job in Montana

Morro Bay City Manager David Buckingham is being considered for a city manager position in Whitefish, Montana.

The city of Whitefish recently announced Buckingham was among five finalist candidates being considered to replace its current city manager, Chuck Stearns, who is planning to retire at the end of the year.

Buckingham said Monday that he began considering the job during the recent election cycle.

“During the recent campaign, with three candidates running on a ‘get rid of the city manager’ platform, it would have been irresponsible of me as a husband and father not to consider alternatives and take appropriate preparatory actions such as applying for this fantastic opportunity in beautiful, wonderful Whitefish,” he said. “While those candidates were not elected, as a man of my word I determined it appropriate to let the process move forward.”

However, Buckingham said he is “very, very happy serving and leading in Morro Bay.”

“My family and I love the Central Coast and, as I’ve said to various groups over the past year, I would be quite happy serving in Morro Bay for five, 10, perhaps 15 years,” he said.

Buckingham has served as city manager in Morro Bay since 2014. In his first year, he earned about $160,000, plus benefits.

The new job is expected to have an annual salary of $130,374, according to the Whitefish city website.

According to the online newspaper DailyInterLake.com, the other candidates for Whitefish city manager are: Adam Hammatt, a village administrator for Kimberly, Wisconsin; Evelyn Racette, a former town manager of Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona; William Vajda, a former city manager of Marquette, Michigan; and Matthew Vincent, a CEO for the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow, Montana.

The Whitefish City Council will meet with and interview candidates on Dec. 16, with a decision on their preferred candidate expected to come several days later.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Morro Bay city manager a finalist for a job in Montana."