After two-plus hours of closed session talks from a special city council meeting regarding the selection of a city manager on Friday, Dec. 7, the Oakdale City Council broke at noon to announce that no decision has been made.

Oakdale City Clerk Kathy Teixeira announced that the council “provided direction to staff” and announced no new date for any further meetings.

When the special meeting broke for closed session at 9:15 a.m., council members were overheard that they would be discussing “a draft contract” for the position.

The city has operated with interim city managers of Greg Wellman followed by Stan Feathers since Steve Hallam was dismissed by the council in April 2011.

City of Chowchilla Assistant City Manager Wayne Padilla was reported to be in Oakdale on Friday morning. Padilla has confirmed to members of the community that he is a candidate for the city manager position of Oakdale.

None of the council members contacted would confirm with the Leader if Padilla was being considered on Friday.

For further developments, read the Dec. 12 edition of The Leader.