The city of Seaside is at a crucial turning point, as we begin the process of hiring a new city manager. Mark Winstanley will be retiring soon, so the recruiting, vetting, and interviewing needs to move quickly.

As a longtime city employee, recently retired, I have seen, and personally experienced the inner workings of the city, and want to share my opinion.

While I am all for hiring from within, in this case, it isn’t our best option. The city deserves a capable leader who has the education, experience, a deep history of leadership, and a proven track record who can hit the ground running. An individual who will honor our history, while having a vision for the future. There are many issues needing to be addressed, ones that have no easy fix, and perhaps a fresh eye would be useful. We need to seek out the best candidate, with a nationwide search. My hope is that our City Council will not take the path of least resistance, and truly search out the very best candidate for our city. As citizens, we deserve it.

Gretchen Darnell

Seaside