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Home My WebLink AboutCCMinutes_2006_05_02 129 Brookings City Council May 2, 200G The Brookings City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday,May 2,2006 at 5:00 p.m., at City Hall with the following members present: Mayor Scott Munsterman, Counci�Members Tom Bezdichek,Michael Bardey, Ginger Thomson,Tim Reed,and Michael Reitz. Julie Whaley was absent. City Manager Alan Lanning, City Attorney Steve Britzman,and City Clerk Shari T'hornes were also present. Transition Stetis. Mayor Munsterman distributed an outline of transition steps and issues for the Council to consider over the next few months. Citv Manager&Interim Mana�er Recnzitment Lanning distributed a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit a professional search firm for the permanent city manager and an interim manager. He also provided a list of potential firms. The proposed timeline would involve proposals xeturned by May 15th and the Council could interview seaxch firms and interim candidates May 17-19,with formal action on May 23`d. It is his hope that an interim can be in place for a couple weeks befoxe he leaves in oxdex to facilitate a smoother transition. The same consultant could provide the seatch and the interim placement. The key questions �e does the Council wish to hire a search firm and do they also want an interim seaxch included. Lanning said the Council could use two different firtns for the interitn and the permanent search; however,the city may get a betteY price if the same firm does both. He noted that the city had used Phil McKenney's firm for two city recruitments. In 1999 the City hired The Brimeyer Group to do the ciry manager recruitment and separately hired A1 Thelen as the Interitn City Manager. In 2003 the city hired A1 Thelen to do the city manager recruitment and appointed Allyn Frerichs,Park/Recreation&Forestty Director,as acting city manager with additional compensation of$600 per month. Thomson asked how important it is to fmd someone from the outside to serve as interim. Lanning said thexe is some xeluctance on part of the management team to provide "fill-in" services. They all have a lot to do and the additional duties as City Manager would be a strain. Lanning recommended the Council get a qualified City Managex who could keep pxojects going ox fuush projects during the Ciry Manager search period. The process to xecnut and hire a permanent managex will be 4 months �nim�,but may be up to 6 months. That would be a long time for a city staff inember to fill in. There are city managers out there who do interim services. They are typically at the end of their career and doing interim work full time. Thomson asked how the frrm finds an interim person. Lanning said each fixm has a pool of people they work with and would know who is available and who might be a good fit. They would work with the Council to develop a profile and then try to match the city's needs. Lanning said step 1 would be to send out an RFP to see proposals and costs. Step 2 would be to choose a firm to do the recruiting and hire an interim person. Bartley agreed that he liked the idea of an interitn manager and that it would be too much for city staff to take on. There will be costs associated with an interim. Lannuig noted that the costs will be offset because they won't be paying him. The timeframe for proposals should also be fairly quick because each firm has standard proposals and fees. Reed asked if the city could do an independent local(5 state area) search at the same time as the recnuter. Lanning said the city could do that up until it enters into a contxact with the ftrm. Baxdey asked if it is unusual to advertise independendy,noting most professional publications deadlines have passed. Lanning said that advertising process would take too long for an interim. The City could specify certain publications during the permanent recruitment phase. Lanning clarified that with an RFP, the City is only asking for proposals and there is no obligation to accept anything. 130 Reed asked if the firms know who is in the area that might be available as interim. Lanning said yes, those firms keep tabs on who is available. Bezidichek noted that the Brookings Hospital hired Ron Waltz as interi.m administrator until the permanent was hired. Reed said the selection of Waltz was done by networking and the Board President made that contact. Bezdichek asked if the proposed search firms only did city manager/administrator placements or wexe they capable of others. Is BMU using any one of these firms for their executive director search? Lanning said yes;BMU is using Waters-Oldani from Bellewe,Washin,gton. Bezdichek said if that fixm might be a good fit since they are akeady gathering data right for Brookings. Lanning agreed that it is possible that the city might get a good proposal from that firm. Lanning noted that the Council may not like every firm's recruiting style. Some fitms have personal outreach methods in where they try to meet the Council and community and then match candidates. All the fixms use different types of approaches. Based on review of the ptoposals and interviews, the Council will select a firm based on what is the best fit for Brookings. Reed asked what a firm's database was of individuals. Do they have a number of city managers on file? There were candidates not hited in the last ciry manager search. Would any have interest in serving as interim? Lanning said probably not. That timeframe was too long ago. Lanning said it is important to maintain a city manager position duxing the interim and continue to have one person be central contact for the staff and the Council. He clarified that Allyn Frerichs served as "acting"city manager in 2003,not interim. "Acting" means an employee would have additional duties to their regular duties. "Interim"means that pexson is specifically selected to serve as city manager for a temporary amount of time until the recruitment is done. Reitz asked if there were any department heads or other employees close to retirement that would like to do this. No. Are there any qualified? No. . ACTION: A motion was made by Bartley, seconded by Thomson, to send out the RFP as . , presented. Di.rcu.rrion: Lr the czty.rubject to bid larur� No, thi,r i.r a.rpecialty.rerr�ice. Ther�i.r no obligation to.relect the cheape,rt or even go thmugh an K.FP/guote pmce.rs. BeZidichek reque.cted information on what BMU has done, �vhy they selected the Water.r frrm and at rvhat price. Lanning noted that a city managerpmfik ha.r alr�ady been c�zated which may save on cost.r. L.anning noted that the BMU recruatment i.r looking for an entir�ly di�erent person and porztion and that data lvould not be u.refu� However, Waters would need to submit a separate propo.ral for thi,r.rearch and it may be le.rs�ince they are doing ivork here. Pmpo.ral.r are u.rualdy a flat fee plu.r e.xpen.re.r. All present voted yes;motion carried. Manager Oualifications. It was noted that the City Council and citizens participated in a workshop to identifq what they'd like to see in a manager. The Council requested a copy of that data. Current Pro,�ects. Lanning will develop a complete list of projects and their current status prior to departute. Ex-Officio Status on Boards. There was a question whethex the Council should re-think its ex- officio policy to nnaintain consistency in xapport with the boards and communication back to the council. Lanning said Rita Thomson, Finance Manager, attends the BMU Board meetings on his behalf and Donna Langland, HR Director, attends the Hospital Board meetings. Both will provide 131 reports to the interim city manager during the search process and the permanent city manager can make their own decision on representation. It was noted that the new Promotions Board is supposed to always come back to the City Manager fox approval whenever there is a change. This is a new board and will require monitoring in the interim. The consensus was to leave the ex-officio status as is. Home Rule Status Ouestions. Bezdichek asked for clarification on when the home rule chaxter was adopted and when the form of government changed. Britzman cited the following: � 1997—Home Rule Charter '+�► June 1999 -Charter Election to change foxm of government to city council/city manager form �4 August 1999—New City Council members took office � Nov 1999-Maxch 2000—A1 Thelen served as interim city manager +L Nov 1999—City Council hired Brimeyex Group to conduct search +1� April 2000—Mike Williams started as first city manager s+�4 Oct 2002—Mike Williams resigned � Nov 2002—Special Election on amendments to the Ciry Charter � Nov 2002-March 2003—Allyn Frerichs served as acting city manager �+1�► Apri12003—Alan Lanning started as second city manager Ad�ourn. A motion was made by Reed, seconded by Reitz, to adjourn. All present voted yes; motion ca�ried. Meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. Ci of Broo � �=�, ;�.tY �r,:, o.:. °'�.coH;,,��o�- O: °��.z cott . unsterman,Mayor � T°:� N�� j��//�^ c • • � ' ,�V o�' i< Shari Thornes,City Cler��