QuickTake:

As Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary plans retirement later this year, the city council will start a national search for a replacement to lead Lane County’s largest city.

In March, Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary announced her plans to retire at the end of 2025. Medary, whose career with the city started in 1996, has been city manager since 2019. 

Now, Eugene city leaders are preparing for a national search for the next city manager to replace Medary. 

City council members discussed initial steps for the search in a Monday work session. Councilors unanimously approved a plan, expected to take 10 to 12 months, which will require advertising and hiring a recruiting firm that will guide the work, posting the job opening, interviewing candidates and picking finalists before selecting and hiring the next city manager. 

Mia Cariaga, central services director, briefed councilors on how a recruiter could help their work. For example, the recruiter would meet with councilors to identify the attributes in candidates they would like to see, and then handle national outreach and initial screenings to make sure top candidates align with the position description.

“I can’t think of a more important decision that the council has to make,” Councilor Alan Zelenka said at the meeting.

Eugene has a council-manager form of government, meaning the council decides the policies and the council-hired manager oversees the city’s operations, provides administrative direction and follows the council’s directions, according to the city’s employee handbook.

Councilor Randy Groves said community engagement is an important part of the process, and it’s important the public has an understanding of the city manager’s role.

The council hasn’t yet set the salary for the next city manager, which will be negotiated with the candidate. In July 2024, when the council evaluated Medary, her annual salary was $293,217, and the range for the position was $231,816 to $310,835, city records show.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.