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After two top candidates for the Whitefish city manager job dropped out, City Council has decided to again advertise the position.

City Council during an executive session Friday unanimously decided to re-advertise for candidates for the city’s top administrative position. The selection process is expected to take place through the end of 2016, according to city officials.

The city last week offered the job to Chuck Winn, assistant city manger of Bozeman, but after several days of discussion he turned down the job. Due to personal reasons he decided to remain in Bozeman, according to the city. Another finalist, Ken Decker, county administrator for Caroline County, Maryland, also withdrew his application because he would be taking a substantial pay cut from his job in Maryland.

Whitefish lists the salary range for the position of $100,000 to $130,000.

Prior to Friday’s meeting Mayor John Muhlfeld said council would discuss a few options, including whether to negotiate with one of the top candidates, re-evaluate the entire candidate pool and determine if there are other candidates it would like to interview, re-advertise the position, or hire a headhunting firm to assist the city in reaching a broader market.

In mid-August Council selected four finalists for the job. One of the candidates, Dara MacDonald, a former city administrator from Salida, Colo., dropped out in early September after accepting another job. The city added Kim Park, who served as an elected town supervisor in Wolcott, New York, to the list of finalists.

The other finalist was Edwin Meece, former city manager for the city of Livingston.

City Council, a community interview committee and a staff interview committee conducted interviews with the four finalists for the position on Sept. 16.

Chuck Stearns, who has served as city manager for the past eight years, will retire in early 2017. He announced his plans to step down in March.