Having taken its sweet time up to now, we fail to see the need for the Norwich City Council to rush the city manager search to a conclusion.

The City Council on Monday voted to hire Colin Baenziger & Associates of Palm Beach County, Fla., to conduct the search and submit a list of potential candidates to the council, along with background information. It has been more than six months since City Manager Alan Bergren resigned under pressure from the council.

Having taken more than a half-year to reach this point, Mayor Deberey Hinchey said she would like to see the City Council wrap things up before a new council takes office in early December. That would mean the consulting firm would have to condense a search that normally takes 12 weeks into about eight or nine.

Driving this expedited process is the Nov. 3 election. The six-member council will end up with at least three new members, with the new council sworn in about a month after the election. The council’s thinking is to get this done before the next council is seated.

The question is why is that so important? Mayor Hinchey, who serves as a seventh voting member of the council, is not up for re-election, having completed only half her four-year term. That provides consistency between councils.

The city manager is a non-political position. There is no reason a newly elected council could not finish the job, having considered the opinions of the out-going council and the search consultant.

Additionally, the new council will be working with the hired city manager.

It is more important to reach the right decision than a quick decision. Norwich Public Utilities General Manager John Bilda is serving as acting city manager.

Colin Baenziger & Associates have offered assurances that they can meet an expedited schedule, though it may mean screening fewer candidates and presenting the council with fewer options. However, this is the first time the Florida firm has done an executive search in Connecticut, which suggests it might need a little more search time than average, not less.

Taking shortcuts on background checks is a bad idea, as the New London Board of Education found out when it almost hired a superintendent who had troubling discrepancies in his academic record, which the consultant had missed.

The Norwich council must make sure it does its due diligence.