Claremont council schedules special meeting on city manager hiring strategy

Claremont’s next city manager decision could shape how the city keeps its daily work moving as Nancy Bates prepares to leave later this summer. The Claremont City Council scheduled a special public meeting for Tuesday, June 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, and the agenda puts city manager hiring strategy at the top of the list before the board moves into a nonpublic session for personnel matters.

The timing gives the discussion unusual weight. Claremont operates under a City Council and city manager form of government, so the manager role sits at the center of day-to-day administration, from communication with departments to the pace of public works, planning and finance decisions. Bates has submitted her resignation, with an official departure date still to be determined, after being selected as city manager in December 2025 following a period as acting city manager.

The special meeting arrives as the city is also pushing through its budget calendar. According to the city’s budget notice, meetings were scheduled for May 27 and June 10, with a public hearing and vote on the 2027 budget set for Wednesday, June 24. A separate council document also calls for a public hearing at 6 p.m. on June 18 at City Hall to hear public input and make a final determination on the FY 2026-2027 budget. Those dates place staffing and spending decisions on parallel tracks in the same month.

Because the June 9 session is a special meeting rather than one of the council’s routine gatherings, it signals that the council is not waiting for its normal cadence. The city says the council usually meets in Council Chambers on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m., but this added session gives members a chance to address the manager transition sooner. Under New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know law, RSA 91-A:3 allows nonpublic sessions for personnel matters, and RSA 91-A:5 lists disclosure exemptions, which is the legal basis for the closed portion of the meeting.

The notice does not spell out whether the council will pursue an interim arrangement, a permanent search or another short-term management setup. Even so, the meeting makes clear that Claremont is confronting a leadership transition while infrastructure work, routine municipal operations and the 2027 budget all remain in motion.