WATERVILLE — Four candidates who applied and were interviewed for the city manager’s position have been tossed out of the running, so the mayor and City Council will restart the process.

Meanwhile, City Manager Bryan Kaenrath’s last day will be Thursday, after which he heads to Lewiston to become city manager there, and Cornell Knight begins his interim city manager post in Waterville on Monday.

Mayor Mike Morris said Thursday he and councilors interviewed the four candidates April 14 and 16 and councilors couldn’t come to an agreement on second interviews.

“It was very split,” he said. “Everybody liked one of the candidates but we couldn’t get consensus on any one of the candidates.”

Eleven people, all men, applied for the position and four were chosen for interviews, Morris said; of the four, only one was from out of state.

Morris sent an email Thursday to city department heads and councilors, saying he and the council had a thorough discussion about the candidates’ qualifications and fit for the city.

“Ultimately, we were unable to reach a clear consensus on who should be invited for a second interview,” he wrote. “As a result, we have decided to repost the position and are currently finalizing the best timeline for this process.”

Morris said he estimates the position would be advertised again sometime between the last week in May and the first two weeks in June, to allow for a new councilor, who is expected to be elected for the Ward 6 seat June 24, to be involved in the process. That seat was formerly held by Rien Finch who recently resigned, and the council set a special election for a successor.

Morris said councilors are still discussing a timeline for advertising the city manager position and interview process.

“The council is also right now taking a look at the ad we placed last time, determining if there’s any type of verbiage or changes they want to make for the ad,” he said.

The initial advertisement was published late February and councilors received the applications and resumes March 27 from Don Gerrish of Eaton-Peabody Consulting Group of Augusta. The council voted Feb. 5 to hire that firm to help with the search process for $8,000. It is the same firm the city used to find Kaenrath, who was hired May 2023 at a salary of $155,000.

The council voted April 1 to hire Knight. He will be paid $95 an hour for the part-time interim position. He has served five stints as interim manager, in Hancock County, Farmington, Bar Harbor, Orono and most recently, Pittsfield.

Knight’s contract with the city lists his responsibilities, which include overseeing and coordinating daily operations of city government and its departments; implementing policies, decisions and directives set forth by the city charter to ensure efficient and effective administration; providing leadership and guidance to city staff; fostering a positive work environment and promoting teamwork and cooperation among departments; and preparing and presenting reports.

Morris said Knight will be at city hall next week for a couple of days to familiarize himself with the operations and staff.

“He has some meetings set up and he’ll set up his schedule,” he said. “Cornell can just hit the ground running May 5.”

Knight comes on board as the city is in the middle of a busy budget season, a budget proposal is now in the hands of councilors, Morris said.

“All of the departments have presented their budgets so on Tuesday, the sixth, we’re going to start public hearings,” he said.

Kaenrath announced earlier this year, after 18 months as city manager, that he planned to resign from his Waterville position May 1 to become city manager in Lewiston.