Joliet attorney and City Council candidate Jim Capparelli is the only name surfacing as the next person to fill the city manager’s office.

Capparelli has not been named publicly as a prospective replacement for interim City Manager Jim Hock, who is leaving Friday.

Hock announced his departure last week and said Monday that he does not believe the City Council is close to hiring a “professional city manager.”

A number of sources on Monday said Capparelli was the only person known to be mentioned for the job.

He is a candidate in the April 6 council election and was one of three finalists in a city manager candidate search in early 2020 that ended with none of the candidates being chosen.

Capparelli has military leadership experience but does not have a background in municipal government.

Capparelli told The Herald-News when filing in December for the council election that he would still be interested in the city manager job, although he did not apply in the latest candidate search.

The council met in closed session Monday to discuss who would replace Hock.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and council members could not be reached after the closed session for comment.

O’Dekirk said last week that he expected to have someone hired by Friday and that he would discuss local candidates for the job with the council in closed session.

Hock is leaving as the city is getting ready to do interviews after a second candidate search for a city manager.

It’s not clear whether the City Council will go through with interviews at this point or give the job to whoever is hired to replace Hock.

Hock was hired in August with expectations that someone else would be in place as permanent city manager by the end of 2020.

“It’s time to get back to Michigan,” Hock said Monday, referring to his home.

“I’ve kind of decided things are not changing in the political landscape in any shape and form that moves things closer to getting a professional city manager,” Hock said. “I’m not sure if I stayed until the election things would be any closer. Hopefully, this will motivate them.”

The council has been divided over prospects for the city manager job since it agreed on a buyout in October 2018 for the last permanent city manager, David Hales.

Hock is the city’s third interim city manager since then.

The council typically had been divided on city manager votes by a 5-3 split that at times has blocked Mayor Bob O’Dekirk’s will on the issue and is believed to have rejected Capparelli for the job previously.

But that margin is likely to have changed with the resignation in November of Don Dickinson, who was replaced by Herb Lande. Lande, one of the largest contributors to the mayor’s campaign fund, was appointed by O’Dekirk with approval from the council.

O’Dekirk, known to support Capparelli, is a voting member of the council but typically only votes to break ties, which would occur if the council split on Capparelli’s appointment in a 4-4 vote.