City Will Re-Advertise Economic Development Position

It's back to the drawing board for City officials, who were hoping to have hired an Economic Development Director by tomorrow—March 1.

The final candidate, who had been selected after a nationwide search that lasted for months, didn't pass the background check, officials said. The position will be re-advertised.

"It was a combination of things," Assistant City Manager Tony Tomasello said. In addition material in the candidate's background—which Tomasello could not disclose—the candidate was just "not a perfect match" for Gaithersburg, he said.

City Manager Angel Jones echoed Tomasello.

"We determined that the candidate did not sufficiently complement existing staff attributes and the background check reinforced our position to wait for the best-qualified candidate," she said in an email.

Officials may bump up the position's salary in order to attract candidates with more experience, Tomasello said.

In mid-February the City was "in the middle of making an offer but have not completed the contingent background checks, physical, etc.," Tomasello said in an email.

One of the tasks the Economic Development Director will be responsible for is managing a $2 million fund set aside by the City to help attract new businesses.

Currently Tomasello is handling economic development.

"Tony will continue to manage the funds until the Director is on board," Jones said.

In November, former County Councilman Mike Knapp signed a six-month, $79,500 contract with the City to be a consultant. He and his company, Germantown-based Orion Ventures, was tasked with assessing the City's economic development needs.

Knapp himself helped interview prospective candidates for the Director position.

Since his contract is due to run out on April 30, it is possible he could help in interviewing some of the next round of candidates.

"No changes are anticipated for Mike Knapp and the Orion Ventures contract," Jones said. "No decisions have been made regarding the evaluation process for the next round.  If we can make it work with his schedule, he would be an asset to the process."

As for when a Director is hired, Tomasello knows it will not happen quickly.

"Obviously it's going to take some time to regroup," he said, estimating that a hire might not be made until the end of the summer. "It's going to take some time."