By KEITH GRANT
The finalists were in town this week for a second round of interviews with council members and other city officials, acting City Manager Ed Eaton said. The two finalists were previously interviewed in February along with six other candidates that had been selected from a field of several dozen.
There were several amazing, professional managers, councilman Lenny Remo said of the field, and some people who thought it would be a neat job and didn't quite have the qualifications we were looking for.
Applications for the position came from as far south as Florida and as far west as Wyoming, Eaton said. Of the two finalists, Eaton said one comes from upstate New York and the other hails from the Chicago area.
The council really extended itself looking for the best person, Eaton said. While some candidates for the job came from within City Hall, the possibility of hiring an outsider intrigued council members as much as having someone already familiar with the city.
Having an outsider will bring a fresh, new perspective, councilman Denis Kelly said. Furthermore, the process of educating a new city manager on the goings-on within the city could afford the council an opportunity to revisit many issues affecting Long Beach, Kelly added.
This is the dawn of a new age in Long Beach, Kelly said.
Councilman Dan Kearney said, I think either one will be really good. They're both suitable for the job. Whoever the council chooses will do a tremendous job.
Eaton has held the position on an interim basis since the departure of Bruce Nyman last May for a post with Nassau University Medical Center. Nyman, who held the city manager job for two years, has since joined County Executive Tom Suozzi's staff in Mineola.
Eaton, who previously served as city manager for two decades before Nyman's hiring in 1999, will likely stay on the job for another two months. Whichever candidate is hired will require time to move to Long Beach before even beginning the transition process.
Ex-Legislator joins City Hall
The city filled its vacant Corporation Counsel seat this week with the hiring of former Suffolk County Legislator William Holst. The position was vacated over a year ago when Joel Asarch was elected to a judgeship, and had been filled by Acting Corporation Counsel Corey Klein.
A Suffolk native, Holst joins the city with extensive private and governmental experience. After spending most of the 80s as an Assistant Town Attorney in his home of Smithtown, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Suffolk Department of Consumer Affairs in 1998, County Clerk in 1989, and successfully ran for Suffolk County Legislator in 1997. After winning a special election that March, he earned a two-year term the following November and served through 1999.
He has also operated a private law practice since 1990, concentrating on commercial litigation, real estate, business formation, municipal law, and entertainment law.
Holst was chosen out of a field of 53 candidates, City Manager Ed Eaton said.
I was very happy to be in the final selection, and of course to be selected, Holst said after sitting in on his first City Council meeting Tuesday night, March 5. The job, he said, is a coming together of a number of things I've been involved with.
Eaton praised the hiring, noting that You don't find a lot of attorneys with a lot of municipal government experience.
As a legislator, Holst said he was involved in a number of land use and zoning issues, and served as chair of the Legislature's committees for Economic Development and Education, Veterans and Seniors, and Downtown Revitalization.
A graduate of New York University, Holst served three years in the U.S. Army and was an award winning journalist while stationed at Ft. Knox, Ky., and Camp Zama, Japan. After his service, he attended St. John's School of Law.
Holst, 49, resides in Smithtown with his wife Laura and their two children, Marcia and Ian.
