LEWISTON -- Former Gardiner City Manager Jeffrey Kobrock, former Richmond Town Manager Phil Nadeau and former Falmouth Town Manager John "Doug" Harris are the top three contenders for the city administrator's job in Maine's second-largest city.

Councilors and members of a city hiring committee met with a group of seven candidates during the last two weeks, narrowing the list to three as of Thursday. The city released those names and their résumés Monday.

Lewiston Human Resources Director Denis Jean said he is performing background checks on all three candidates -- including credit and driver's license checks and criminal background searches on local, state and National Crime Information Center databases.

Jean said he expects members of the current City Council and those elected at the polls in Tuesday's balloting will bring the three candidates in for a final round of interviews within the next two weeks.

Councilors could name a new city administrator as early as the end of the month, Jean said.

Jean said experience and accreditation in public administration was a top concern for city councilors. All three candidates have extensive experience in government administration.

Kobrock served as the Gardiner city manager from 2000 to May 2009, resigning his position after he was unable to negotiate a new contract with that city's council.

Before becoming Gardiner's top administrator, he was the executive director of the Gardiner Board of Trade from 1997 to 2000, and the town of Bucksport's Economic Development director from 1995 to 1997.

Nadeau also has professional experience in the Kennebec Valley, having been town manager of Richmond from 1994 to 1999. He has been Lewiston's acting city administrator since councilors fired Jim Bennett in July.

Nadeau is a Lewiston native and has been the city's assistant city administrator since May 1999. He serves on a number of city boards and committees in that job, including the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments Executive Board and Healthy Androscoggin Board of Directors.

Harris most recently served as the finance director for the city of Atchison, Kan., from March to August 2009. Before that, he was the county administrator for Franklin County, Kan., from January to November 2007. He served as Falmouth's town manager from 1979 through 2006.

All three have master's degrees in public administration. Nadeau also has a bachelor's degree in public policy, Kobrock has a bachelor's in East Asian history and Harris has a bachelor's degree in urban studies.