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Members of the Asbury Park City Council Wednesday began the interview process for prospective candidates to fill the city manager position.

A total of 123 resumes were submitted by interested applicants.

In lieu of forming a committee, all members of council were given the opportunity to screen the resumes and select their top candidates, according to Mayor Myra Campbell.

Prior to Wednesday’s interviews, Councilman John Moor and Campbell did the majority of the heavy lifting with city payroll manager Mary Kay Callahan. The three sorted the resumes and eliminated those that did not qualify for the position, according to Campbell. Other council members were allowed to add their top picks in for review.

“We narrowed it down and tried to come up with the top six candidates,” Campbell said.

Three applicants were interviewed on Wednesday and the council has additional interviews scheduled for this week.

“We are hoping to get someone in there before [current City Manager Terence Reidy, shown above] leaves,” said Campbell. Reidy’s final day is Oct. 31.

In Asbury Park’s form of government, the city manager is the chief executive officer. The city council serves as the legislative body, with the power to hire and fire the city manager. New council members Campbell, Quinn and Moor, who ran together on the One Asbury slate, informed Reidy [shown above] in June of their intent to replace him at some point after they took office on July 1. Reidy has served as city manager for the past ten years.

The council has not yet had a full discussion on who will step into the post if they are unable to fill the position by the time Reidy vacates the position at the end of October, she said.

A representative from the Division of Local Government Services is assisting with the process. Council members do not have a specific date set as to when they will select the new appointee, Campbell said.

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