The Portage City Council didn’t pick a permanent city manager when it met Tuesday evening, but it did narrow the candidate pool from five to three.
It also voted 6 to 1 to bring those candidates back for a set of evening interviews. That’s to make it easier for the public to ask the candidates questions.
Portage Acting City Manager Laurence Shaffer is among the finalists, as are Sturgis City Manager Michael Hughes and Paul Brake of Grand Blanc. David Mackie of Taylor and Mary Lou Brown of Grand Island, Nebraska, are out. Council members went into closed session for more than an hour during the city manager discussion, but did not explain the reason beyond saying it was a legal matter.