A job recruiter could help officials pick the most qualified candidate to serve as the first Summit County manager, the influential position which will oversee the government’s executive branch.

Unemployment is high and the Summit County Council anticipates more than 100 people could apply for the post.

A selection committee appointed to vet the applicants includes Park City Manager Tom Bakaly, Utah Athletic Foundation director Colin Hilton, Evelyn Furse, an attorney, Eastern Summit County Planning Commissioner John Blazzard and DeAnn Geary, owner of Geary Construction in Coalville.

The form of government in the county changed in January from a three-member county commission to the five-person council/manager model. The Summit County Council is charged with hiring a manager and may need to pay that person a salary of more than $125,000 to attract qualified candidates.

To fill the position Summit County will conduct a nationwide job search. County councilpersons haven’t determined if an outside headhunter is necessary to screen the resumes.

“Is the selection committee going to do its own searching or are they just going to leave it up to a headhunter?” Summit County Councilwoman Claudia McMullin said. “It doesn’t make sense to pay someone to do the job of a selection committee.”

A job recruiter could cost the county roughly half of the manager’s salary next year, said interim Summit County Manager Brian Bellamy, who agreed not to apply for the permanent post.

But if the county taps a recruiter, “I’d like to be clear on what it is the selection committee is charged with doing, and what it is the paid person is charged with doing,” McMullin said at a County Council meeting in Coalville March 11. “Hopefully, they’re not the same.”

Meanwhile, Bellamy suggested keeping the names of applicants confidential during the hiring process.

“I would suggest, for the protection of the applicants, for us to keep it as close to the vest as we can,” Bellamy said.

The selection committee will likely suggest three finalists for the position.

“I think we need to do that as part of the public process,” Summit County Councilman John Hanrahan said, adding that the last three interviews should be open.