Aspen City Manager Steve Barwick is traveling to Miami Beach, Fla. next week, where city commissioners will interview him for that community’s open city manager job.

Barwick is one of seven finalists for the top administrative job in the South Florida community of about 89,000, located on an island just off the mainland and the larger city of Miami. He said he doesn’t have a lot of details yet about the interview, but he expects it to take place on Wednesday and be conducted by the seven-member Miami Beach City Commission. The interview with the elected officials may be a multi-day process, he said, and it may only be the first round of scoping. City officials might just be looking to cull the current seven finalists to a lower number at this point, he said.

Barwick will be gone all next week, as he said he is spending a few personal days in Florida on top of the official business of the interview. The city of Miami Beach is paying for Barwick’s airfare and lodging for the official part of the trip, while he will pay for a few nights in a hotel on his own.

Barwick has been Aspen’s city manager since 1999 and a city employee since 1993.

He was contacted about the position by headhunting firm Bob Muray and Associates, and decided to throw his hat into the ring. Barwick was one of four people the headhunting firm brought forward that the commission wanted to interview, and elected officials, apparently unhappy with that slate, picked three more candidates who also will be considered.

Previous Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez stepped down in July 2012 after the government was rocked by a corruption scandal involving the code compliance department, which resulted in one public official being sentenced to 51 months in federal prison. Gonzalez denied any wrong doing but stepped down because it happened on his watch. Gonzalez received a total compensation package worth around $500,000, including a $231,000 annual salary, health and retirement benefits, and various other perks, the Miami Herald reported.

Barwick makes $170,352 as Aspen’s city manager, not including benefits.

curtis@aspendailynews.com [1]