The list of candidates for Bismarck Civic Center manager has been reduced to three, said Bismarck Human Resources Director Charles Klein.

The Bismarck City Commission will make the final decision on who will replace Dick Peterson as Civic Center manager. The toughest part of the process may getting all five commissioners together at one time to conduct the interviews, Klein said.

The human resources director said that the commissioners are "busy people," and this is a particularly hectic time of year to bring them together at one time for the interviews, which may last several hours.

The final candidates are:

n Stephen Hyman, of Streamwood, Ill. Hyman is CCO, owner and co-founder of Arenas, a consulting service for arena design, management and public relations.

n Charles Jeske, Grand Forks, executive director of the Alerus Center.

n Ron Staiger, Bismarck, operations manager for the Bismarck Civic Center.

The city received 20 applications for the position; the list was reduced to nine candidates, who were sent a profile to fill out and return to human resources.

A four-member committee, made up of four community members, reviewed the profiles and used a point system to select the finalists.

The committee included Dan Hovland, Jim Haussler, Terry Harzinski and Bill Daniel.

Originally, Klein expected there would be five finalists, but he said there was a big enough point differential between the top three and the rest that only those three are being brought in for interviews.

"This process of selection has worked very well for us. We've used it a couple of times for department heads," Klein said.

"It focuses on the requirements of the job. The things we are looking for are leadership, planning and organization, problem analysis and decision making, working cooperatively with others, and Civic Center and auditorium operations."

Hopes are to have someone in place by the beginning of January, but that will all depend on the scheduling of interviews.

Two of the candidates will be given tours of the facility the day of the interview. Klein expected the interviews to last from an hour to an hour and a half.

The commissioners will be provided information from the candidate profiles and likely ask questions relating to the candidates' interests and background.

(Reach Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)