The field of potential candidates for Kalispell city manager is down to five.

The city staff is still checking backgrounds of those five, with the list for interviews expected to have between one and five people, said Terry Mitton, the city's human resources manager.

The names of the final candidates are expected to be publicly released next week, he said.

Former Great Falls City Manager Robert Stockwell -a finalist in an earlier manager search - is among those five, Mitton said.

The city staff tentatively is planning a public meet-and-greet session for the finalists on June 2 at the Hockaday Museum of Art.

Kalispell had three city manager finalists in March. But Lewiston City Manager Jay Krauss and former Rantoul, Ill., Village Administrator David Johnston withdrew their applications, leaving only Stockwell.

The City Council wanted more than one finalist to interview before picking a new city manager, so a new search was started.

The annual salary range for a new Kalispell city manager is $95,000 to $125,000. The manager has operational authority for a city of roughly 20,000 people with a $52 million budget and about 190 city employees.

The council is looking for a replacement for Jim Patrick, who was fired as city manager in October 2008.

Myrt Webb of Columbia Falls has been interim city manager since then.

Stockwell, a Riverton, Utah, financial adviser, was the city manager of Sunnyside, Wash., from 2004 to 2007.

In the past, Stockwell had been city manager for Great Falls; Alamogordo, N.M.; West Jordan, Utah; Eureka, Calif.; and Sparks, Nev.

He also was the chief administrative officer for Provo, Utah.