The city of Bellevue is postponing its public reception and interview of city manager candidates following the withdrawal of finalists that dropped the pool down to two.

City councilmembers had selected five finalists for the position based on community input received in August, the names of which were supposed to be released earlier this week, but two candidates withdrew themselves from consideration and another was unable to attend the interview process Friday and Saturday.

One candidate was incentivized to stay in their current position and another withdrew for personal reasons, said Emily Christensen, chief communications officer in the city manager’s office.

With only two candidates left to attend the public reception and interviews, the city council decided earlier this week to postpone the process until early 2014. It is uncertain whether the city will engage in more recruiting to increase its number of finalists.

“Those details will be ironed out in future council discussions,” said Christensen.

Brad Miyake continues to serve as city manager in the interim.