Residents will be able to meet Evanston’s final two candidates for city manager next week, while two aldermen predict that the final choice could be announced by the end of this month.

The number of candidates has been whittled down to two from the nearly 20 originally presented by the city’s consultant, Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Ga. Current city employees had been on the list but neither of the final two candidates currently work for the city, aldermen said.

A reception scheduled at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14 will give residents a chance to meet the candidates at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.

The meeting comes after several citizen organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Evanston, began pushing for greater public involvement in the selection process in the spring.

“It sounds like people will be able to talk to them and ask them a few questions,” said Donna Stuckert, Evanston’s community information officer. “There’s no format to my knowledge.”

Although some residents had expressed concern about the lack of public involvement, Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said next week’s meeting was a good time for the city to solicit public comment.

“It’s when it’s fresh in everyone’s mind and it’s close to the decision time,” he said. “Those who care to make an expression of preference can do so in a way that’s effective because it’s close in time (to the final decision).”

Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) said that a community meeting would have been difficult to arrange beforehand since many of the candidates expected their names to be kept private until a decision had been reached.

“You have to preserve the candidates’ confidentiality because it impacts their job and some of them don’t want their names released until they are finalized,” she said. “It’s difficult to do that as early in the process as the community would like.”

Both Tisdahl and Moran declined to identify the two candidates.

Some current issues facing aldermen in selecting one of the candidates include their desired pay, how effective they would be at attracting new businesses to the city, and how they would get along in a diverse community, Tisdahl said.

Moran said that the two candidates will not only be interviewing with the community next weekend. Aldermen and city staff also plan to speak with them. He said he expected aldermen to make a final decision soon after that.

Reach Mike Cherney at [email protected].