But according to ad hoc committee member Ron Swegles, that search has stopped and may not start up again for at least a year.

Amy Chan—currently acting as city manager after serving as deputy under former City Attorney Robert LaSala—has agreed to stay on with the city until the end of 2005, postponing her retirement until a long-term manager is found.

"Amy said she is willing to stay on for another year before she retires," Swegles said. "It's going to give us time to get the budget done and get the downtown taken care of."

Swegles said that the committee—which also includes Chu and Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton—is not worried that unforeseen future city issues could postpone the search even longer, saying that the economic upswing many are predicting should minimize prolonged budget battles like the city has faced the past two years.

Communications Officer John Pilger confirmed that the search could take until 2006, but that in the meantime, the council was lucky to have Chan working with them.

"Council has a good working relationship with Amy, and there's a lot of respect there. That goes a long way in this kind of work," Pilger said. "It's giving the council time to make sure they do this right and get the right candidate."

Sunnyvale has been without a new city manager since Robert LaSala ended his employment with the city in February after a prolonged administrative leave prompted rumors of ill will and unfair treatment of LaSala.

Some council watchers say that the current council did not work as well with LaSala as it does with Chan.

The first indication that it may be some time before a replacement is found was in May when Chu said the search would be stalled until the budget was approved. He said that would give council time and space to deal with Sunnyvale's financial needs. The budget was approved on June 15 and went into effect when the fiscal year began July 1.

Swegles said the council is currently dealing with downtown development, and the ad hoc committee is not yet meeting to discuss how the city will go about finding a new manager.

Swegles said they have discussed looking within California for a candidate, to get someone with experience working with the California state government, and that they intend to use "headhunters," recruitment firms that help cities fill top positions.