It looks as if Hamilton may have to wait until mid-October before a new city manager gets the nod to come aboard.

That's the latest hiring timeline, bumping the previous estimate back by a couple of weeks.

No great mystery behind the delay.

Blame it on volume.

By the time all the e-mails and envelopes had been opened, it turns out a staggering total of 72 people applied for the $200,000-a-year job that was vacated by Glen Peace at the end of June.

I know what you're thinking.

But even if you suspect that there must have been a heck of a lot of Hail Mary and low-watt resumes buried in the stack, it's still a pretty good tally for a city hall culture with an unsavory reputation for playing politics with live ammo.

How do we know that there was any gold among the likely dross?

Well, after the council search team and headhunting firm of Ray & Berndtson had poked through the applications, they still only managed to winnow the pack down to a solid dozen contenders.

That's where the job hunt is at now.

Councillor Russ Powers, chair of the search committee, says the group is now in the process of setting up interviews with those 12 finalists .

He says they're planning to start two back-to-back days of interviewing any time now.

Powers expects the vetting will result in one more short list before a hiring recommendation goes to council.

For reasons of confidentiality, Powers refuses to name names.

But he allows that "a number" of the final 12 are internal candidates.

No surprise there.

We know for a fact that Scott Stewart, general manager of public works, put his name forward.

Ditto Tim McCabe, general manager of economic development and planning.

And Chris Murray, director of city housing and the former pointman for the Red Hill Valley project.

It's not certain whether Joe-Anne Priel, general manager of community services, invested in a postage stamp or not.

Priel refused to publicly say whether she was in or out, though it's generally believed she took the plunge.

Regardless, it's a safe bet any and all internal candidates are on the interview list.

It's not only politically expected that managers at their level would be given serious consideration, it's a given that each of them has at least some of the necessary strengths and skills to lead the city's civil service.

Though Stewart has commonly been viewed as a frontrunner, Murray seems to have developed a strong cheering section of his own.

Mind you, promoting Murray to city manager would mean leapfrogging him over several senior department heads who are higher up the pecking order than he is.

But some feel that elevating Murray would be a refreshing and well received shuffling of the deck.

However that sorts itself out, we can now safely discount speculation that Tim Commisso, Burlington's manager of community services, is also in the running.

As Spec freelance columnist Joan Little recently noted, Commisso has just accepted the job of city manager in Thunder Bay, effective at month's end.

Commisso's name got sucked into the Hamilton rumour mill for the very best of reasons.

Some believe the changing of the political guard and culture in Burlington -- the advent of Mayor Cam Jackson, the arrival of new city manager Roman Martiuk -- has served to spur thwarted visions and ambitions in the bureaucracy across the Bay.

Andrew Dreschel's commentary appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

adreschel@thespec.com

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