Brimeyer Fursman officials announced this week they have received 58 résumés from people wishing to become the next Albert Lea city manager.

Richard Fursman, president of Brimeyer Fursman, the firm hired to conduct the search, said the candidates are from multiple states, though most are from the Midwest area.

There are some candidates who applied during the Albert Lea city manager search in 2010, though Fursman said he could not reveal whether any of the finalists had re-applied.

Applications were accepted from Jan. 11 through Monday.

Fursman, who also spearheaded the search for an Albert Lea manager in 2010, said there were 83 resumes submitted in the previous search.

From that search, the Albert Lea City Council hired then Afton Interim City Administrator Jim Norman, who has since resigned amidst allegations that he misused the city-issued credit card.

Fursman said the next step of the new search is to conduct preliminary screenings and reference checks of the candidates. After the field is narrowed down, candidates must submit Social Security numbers to conduct more in-depth background checks.

Fursman said he has sent requests for additional information to the top 16 candidates and will be interviewing them over the next week.

On March 4, a report with the top 10 or 11 candidates is expected to go to the Albert Lea City Council.

On March 7, the council is slated to select the top five candidates, and then on March 25 and 26, the candidates are scheduled to come to Albert Lea for interviews.

The council is expected to choose the winning candidate after the interviews, with the new manager scheduled to begin at the end of April or beginning of May.