The committee looking for Wichita's next manager has received 22 applications for the job. While there may be more applications coming in, its ready to start narrowing down the group, hoping to have someone in place by the end of the year.

"We went all the way through this process and there was just one person and hopefully at the end, there will be more than one person presented to the city council," said Mayor Carl Brewer.

The city's original pick for city manager, Pat Salerno, backed out just a week before he was supposed to take over.

"We're going to give the council a briefing on the process and where we're at and start sharing with them when we think we'll be ready to finalize names and the process for interviews." said Misty Bruckner, who is the chair of the search committee.

The committee of 17 people began wading through 22 applicants, with the help of Slavin Consulting group. The consultants have already have a recommendation of about 15 applicants. The committee is looking for applicants from cities similar to Wichita, with a city manager form of government, and a population of at least 100,000. One person not in the running however, is the current interim city manager, Scott Moore.

"To make sure it's a good, clean slate, is to no allow the interim to be the person applying for that," said Brewer.

The committee says it has a lot of work to do but hopes to begin interviewing candidates by the beginning of November.

"You've got 17 people with strong opinions in a room, so I don't know what we're going to find," said Bruckner.

Interim city manager Scott Moore is not a candidate for the position in Wichita, but he is a candidate for a similar position in Corpus Christi, Texas.