The former city administrator of DuPont will oversee daily government operations in Puyallup until a permanent chief executive is hired.

The Puyallup City Council has chosen Bill McDonald as interim city manager.

He started today.

McDonald was DuPont’s city administrator from 2003 until he retired in 2010. He also was city manager in Snohomish from 1997 to 2001 and before that held administrative positions in cities in Oregon. He was a county commissioner in Columbia County, Ore., in the mid-1990s.

The Puyallup council last week narrowed a field of seven candidates to three finalists, and then held interviews Monday.

The city will pay $91 an hour for McDonald’s services, which will include helping the city formulate its 2013 budget.

The consulting firm Prothman Co. coordinated the search.

An interim city manager is needed because City Manager Ralph Dannenberg is departing after a breakdown in his relationship with the majority of the council.