Who will run Bartlesville as city manager search meets election season
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Aug 31, 2026
Bartlesville's search for its next city manager moved forward Friday, with the approaching City Council election quickly becoming part of the debate.
The City Council voted to advertise the city's top administrative job internally for two weeks before deciding whether a broader search is necessary, rejecting an effort to open the position to outside applicants immediately.
Four Bartlesville City Council candidates speak during the Citizens to Be Heard portion of a special City Council meeting on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Ward 1 Councilman Tim Sherrick ultimately stood alone against the internal-first approach, arguing throughout the special meeting that a position comparable to a chief executive deserved exposure to candidates beyond City Hall.
"Any internal candidate that's qualified should be able to compete with any external candidate that's qualified as well," Sherrick said. "I would move that we open up a period of universal posting internally and externally for 30 days to allow all potential candidates to apply."
The council went another direction.
Less than three months before voters choose all five members of the next City Council, the timing quickly became part of Friday's debate. All four residents who spoke during public comment are candidates challenging sitting council members in the Nov. 3 election.
Friday's meeting was not about choosing former City Manager Mike Bailey's successor. Instead, members considered the position's qualifications and how the city should begin soliciting applicants.
Council challengers take the microphone
Ward 4 candidates Amanda (Wier) Veley and Joel Rabin, Ward 3 candidate Josh Lock and Ward 5 candidate Eddie Collins each questioned some aspect of the process.
No other members of the public spoke.
Veley questioned why the city was considering an internal search rather than allowing outside applicants to compete from the beginning. She also asked whether Interim City Manager Laura Sanders helped develop the job description and whether Sanders intends to seek the permanent position.
"This is the most important position in our city," Veley said. "The public deserves a transparent process before any decision is made."
Sanders later said the proposed description was developed using Oklahoma standards, comparable cities and the City Charter, with the city's Human Resources Department involved in the process.
She also corrected a staff report that referenced an Aug. 3 council discussion about the city manager position, acknowledging that date was a typo.
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Lock attempted to raise questions stemming from an open records request, including whether Bailey received severance when he abruptly resigned Aug. 7.
Mayor Jim Curd stopped him several times, telling Lock that comments during the special meeting had to relate to the posted agenda items: the city manager job description and the proposed internal posting.
"This isn't a political arena," Curd said. "We're here to try to talk about item five and six, a job description, and about when we would post this internally."
Lock pushed back.
"You can mute my microphone, but you can't mute the people," Lock said. "And I know you have the gavel, but the people are eventually going to get to vote."
Lock's microphone was not muted. Curd interrupted him verbally, ruled his comments out of order and directed him to address the two posted agenda items.
Rabin made the connection to the election explicit.
Rabin, who is challenging Ward 4 incumbent Aaron Kirkpatrick along with Veley, argued the search should wait until the next council and warned that a newly elected majority could remove a manager selected by the current body.
"If the same members of the old-style council right here are voted out, then a majority of the new members who have a position similar to mine would likely vote to remove anyone appointed by the old council," Rabin said.
Curd again interrupted when Rabin's remarks shifted toward who might win or lose in November, directing him back to the items on the agenda.
Bartlesville's City Charter gives the council authority to appoint the city manager and remove that person by majority vote, meaning a future council could revisit an appointment made by the current body.
Collins, who is challenging Vice Mayor Trevor Dorsey in Ward 5 along with Angela Utley, questioned Sanders' involvement in preparing a job description for a position she could potentially seek.
"I think it's highly inappropriate that a person who may be a candidate for a position write the description and the qualification for that position," Collins said.
Council revises qualifications
Once public comment ended, the council turned to the proposed job description.
Sherrick suggested adding two preferred qualifications: designation as an International City/County Management Association credentialed manager and a master's degree in public administration, business administration or a related field.
Other council members agreed those qualifications could strengthen the posting without automatically excluding candidates who do not have them.
Curd noted that Bailey had obtained the ICMA credential over several years and said making it mandatory could unnecessarily narrow the internal applicant pool.
The council approved the revised job description.
The larger disagreement came over where to look for applicants.
Internal experience versus a wider search
Curd said city officials have already heard informal interest from several employees and argued that Bartlesville should first determine whether its next manager is already working inside the organization.
"I think we've got the talent pool here, and it would be best for the organization to look within that first," Curd said.
Dorsey agreed, pointing to experienced department directors and the value of promoting from within.
Kirkpatrick made a similar case, emphasizing institutional knowledge and Bartlesville's history of promoting city managers internally.
Sanders told the council the city's last three city managers were internal hires. She also said she had spoken with someone involved in recruiting city managers in Oklahoma who described the available candidate pool as shallow.
Bartlesville City Council members bow their heads as Councilman Aaron Kirkpatrick leads a prayer at the start of a special meeting Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
But as the discussion turned toward opening the position to outside applicants, Kirkpatrick raised another concern: the approaching election.
"It's not a question of harm; it's a question of timing," Kirkpatrick said.
When Councilman Larry East asked whether the council would have handled the search differently six months earlier, Kirkpatrick said it would have followed the same internal-first process he was advocating Friday.
"There's a proposed delay here to push us closer and closer to the election," Kirkpatrick said.
He argued that continually extending or broadening the process would have the "inevitable outcome" of moving the decision closer to Election Day.
Several council challengers had urged the current council to broaden or postpone the search. Kirkpatrick rejected the idea that the approaching election should alter the city's hiring process.
He said Bartlesville should first give its employees a chance to compete for the position and, if the council cannot find the right person internally, conduct a much broader search.
"If we don't hire internally, I'm going to want us to be finding a search firm, headhunt across the country," Kirkpatrick said. "That should be a much larger process."
Sherrick took the opposite position on whether an external search should be guaranteed.
"This is the top job in the city, and we do want to see the very best," Sherrick said. This isn't, you know, moving into a departmental leadership role. This not for a director — this is basically the CEO of the city."
East initially appeared receptive to that argument. He questioned what would be lost by opening the position to everyone at once and ultimately proposed a three-week posting available to both internal and external candidates.
Sherrick supported the proposal, but it failed.
The council then returned to Kirkpatrick's proposal to advertise internally for two weeks. That motion passed, with Sherrick casting the lone opposing vote.
Under the process approved Friday, city employees will have two weeks to apply. The council can then evaluate the internal candidates. If members conclude the city does not have the right candidate in-house, they can begin an external search, potentially using a professional recruiting firm.
Election hangs over the process
Bailey resigned effective immediately Aug. 7, forcing the sitting council to address a vacancy in one of the most powerful positions in Bartlesville government just as every council seat is being contested.
Sherrick himself faces Michael Colaw in Ward 1.
East is not seeking another term, leaving David Austin and Cameron Byers competing for the open Ward 2 seat.
Curd faces Lock and Ingard Curtiss in Ward 3. Kirkpatrick faces Rabin and Veley in Ward 4. Dorsey faces Collins and Utley in Ward 5.
City Council candidate Josh Lock speaks with Mayor Jim Curd after the special meeting Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, about Curd cutting off portions of Lock's public comments during the meeting.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
The current council retains its authority to govern until the next council takes office, and Friday's majority made clear it does not intend to put ordinary city business on hold because an election is approaching.
The challengers who spoke Friday made equally clear that they consider the city manager search fair game for voters to consider.
That leaves Bartlesville with two clocks now running at once.
One is the two-week window to determine whether the city's next manager may already be working inside City Hall.
The other ends Nov. 3.
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