The Bellevue City Council will restart recruiting for a new city manager in January following last week’s withdrawal of candidates ahead of a public reception and interviews, which dropped its finalists down to two.

City councilmembers had selected five finalists for the position based on community input received in August, the names of which were supposed to be released last week, but two candidates withdrew themselves from consideration and another was unable to attend the interview process. One candidate was incentivized to stay in their current position and another withdrew for personal reasons, said Emily Christensen, chief communications officer in the city manager’s office.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer Robertson made a motion Monday night to reopen recruitment in January to increase the city’s pool of potential candidates with a proposed a hiring date for March.

Brad Miyake continues to serve as city manager in the interim.