PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County commissioners met in executive session Tuesday morning to hear an update on its top candidate for county administrator, and could decide whether to negotiate a contract after another closed-door meeting Thursday.

Commissioner Mark Ozias said in an interview later that the information commissioners heard Tuesday was more “background” information about David Fraser, who commissioners unanimously agreed should replace retiring County Administrator Jim Jones, pending a background check.

“It’s additional background information and we want to continue exploring the rest of whatever else might come up,” he said. “[Human Resources] just wanted to make sure the commissioners were up to speed with what they had and with what they were planning in terms of the background checking process.”

The commissioners scheduled another closed-door meeting to discuss Fraser’s qualifications for 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The meeting is expected to last one hour.

Ozias said he expects that Human Resources will have substantially finished the background check and that the commissioners likely would take action following the executive session.

“The action is what is the next step of the process and provide direction for developing a contract and discuss timelines for the transition,” he said.

Action on whether to develop a contract would take place during public session.

Fraser has said he would accept the job, which will pay between $130,201 and $158,652 annually.

Fraser is a government-sector consultant and has been a city manager in small cities in Kansas, Michigan and Nevada.

Fraser was the unanimous choice of a community panel that interviewed the applicants individually at a public meeting and two panels of elected officials and department heads.

Ozias and Commissioner Bill Peach both said the process is moving forward as expected.

Ozias said the information the commissioner were provided during executive session Tuesday does not change his thoughts on selecting Fraser as the next county administrator.

“When we feel confident we can offer a contract and begin negotiating a contract, that will happen in a public meeting,” Ozias said.”

Process questions

The county has heard a number of questions about it’s process for narrowing down the candidates for county administrator, he said.

The three commissioners decided on the finalists in close-door executive sessions.

They narrowed 33 applicants to 11 in executive session July 13, pared that to five applicants in executive session Aug. 10, and announced their decision 10 days later, on Aug. 20.

The state Attorney General’s Office has advised local governments not to narrow down applicants for public employment by making those decisions in executive session.

The Board of County Commissioners was following the advice of the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Ozias said.

Other public agencies in Clallam County have publicly interviewed candidates for positions.

Clallam County Public Utility District officials publicly interviewed 14 candidates for a vacant spot on its board of commissioners in August.

The Port of Port Angeles publicly interviewed four candidates for its executive director position in 2016.

“We are working to strike the balance between being respectful to the privacy of candidates,” he said. “When one is applying for a job, that person might not necessarily want their employer to know they are applying for a job.”

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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.