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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Ad Hoc City Manager Selection Process Committee - 01/24/2022 -Ad Hoc City Manager Selection Process Committee January 24, 2022, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Meeting Minutes Members in Attendance: Mayor Jeni Arndt; Councilmember Shirley Peel; Councilmember Susan Gutowsky; Teresa Roche, Chief Human Resources Officer; Carrie Daggett, City Attorney; Amy Resseguie, Melanie Clark, Executive Administrative Assistant Additional Councilmembers in attendance: Councilmember Julie Pignataro Staff in attendance: Kyle Stannert Public in attendance: Kevin Jones; Emily Gallichotte; John Anderson; Julia Glanz; Casey Setash; Doug Henderson A meeting of the City Council Ad Hoc City Manager Selection Process Committee (“Committee”) was held on Monday, January 24, 2022, virtually through Zoom webinar. Agenda • Call Meeting to Order • Approve Minutes from September 21, 2021, Meeting • Discussion Items: o Review design and schedule for the March 9-11 on site interview process o Review and decide on communications plan • Adjournment Next Meeting: TBD The meeting began at 2:05 p.m. Susan Gutowsky moved to approve September 21 meeting minutes. Shirley second the motion. Teresa explained that on February 7, Council will be receiving materials submitted by the semi-finalists to SGR including written responses to questions and videos to review in advance of the February 15 Executive Session. She asked if the committee wants to stay with this timeline of having semi-finalists respond by February 1. Mayor Arndt stated that she is fine with the timeline if Council can come up with 16 semi-finalists. Teresa asked if the Committee wants to consider any other review process by Council before identifying the finalists as this would add to the time. Mark suggested they see how tonight’s Executive Session goes to determine the future timeline. Julie asked if there are time limits on the videos and length restrictions on the written portion. Mark confirmed that both are limited. 4-minute video and possibly 10 pages written. Mayor Arndt asked if these are effective tools in helping decision makers dial down the options. Mark confirmed that it is and allows folks to see a person’s communication styles. Susan Gutowksy stated that she believes it is valuable that the Council have an opportunity to get together to have a discussion after watching the videos and reading the written responses. Mark stated that Council will have the opportunity to discuss the semi-finalists. Julie asked if Carrie could talk about when to have an Executive Session. Carrie explained that the process has been designed to allow Council to have discussion about candidates, but they will not make decisions in Executive Sessions. Jeni Arndt expressed a strong desire to not have all candidates interviewing in the same room. She suggested having the community forums online before the candidates are onsite. She wants to be intentional about the time the candidates are here. Jeni is more interested in how the candidates react to Council, City Staff and socially and not to each other. Shirley shared her preference of having 1x1s or 2x1 with each candidate and not group interviews. She does like the idea of each candidate giving a presentation. Susan would like for Council to hear the information all together. She does like the idea of smaller group meet and greets. Teresa stated that she would like for Council to take the scheduling concerns out of the equation. Julie shared her support and stated that she would love to see 2x1 on a Saturday and walk downtown for coffee. Teresa reiterated that they would like to see virtual engagement in employee and public forums. Onsite would be Council engagement, ELT as appropriate, maybe they will have the chance to tour the area. Mayor suggested the Candidates come on a Thursday and have a reception with Council and ELT and key partners and then Council go to dinner with the candidates. The next day at City Hall with ELT maybe 2x2s and a tour. Teresa shared the two types of tours. One with vans to take candidates on a city tour a tour of the area to talk about schools and sites. Julie wants to keep in mind the two Councilmembers that have day jobs and would like to see time in the evenings or on a Saturday. Susan suggested Councilmembers who can meet during business hours do, so they don’t have to pack the 2x1s into one day on a Saturday. Mark suggested that it may also be good to build in time for a debrief with Council between those who have interacted with the candidates. He explained that it is not uncommon to invite the spouses of the candidates. Committee members felt very strongly about getting to know the candidates more socially over dinner and/or coffees. Carrie shared that traditionally there is an executive session interview process with each individual candidate and all of Council. She believes this is a very important step in the process. Teresa discussed having interview panels with the Committee and explained the benefits to having them. She reiterated they would be done virtually ahead of the onsite interviews. The Committee agreed having them was a good idea. They discussed the best ways for Council to provide names for who they would like to see on the panels. Mayor requested staff create a schedule based on today’s discussion and bring it back. Susan asked about the timeline. Mark stated that ideally, we would stick to March 9th because some of the candidates are involved in multiple searches. He explained that the serious candidates who want to be here will hold on a little longer. Teresa stated that the question development will need to be done this week. Mark will make copies of the questions to hand out tonight. Teresa questioned how involved the Ad Hoc would like to be with developing the interview questions. Committee members expressed a strong interest in reviewing a rough draft of the questions. Teresa questioned if any Councilmembers want to be present to debrief the candidates. Jeni Arndt and Susan Gutowsky expressed a strong interest to be involved. Mark explained that after tonight semi-finalists will do the video and a stage 1 media check would be done. Full background checks (credit, criminal, civil, etc.) will be done when the finalists are selected. SGR does not provide the background check but will alert to any red flags. Mark explained that references are done electronically, and 8 minimum required. Jeni Arndt would like to see the Ad Hoc Committee occur more regularly. Other Committee members agreed. Julie expressed concerns about deciding the finalists and making a resolution the same night as the finalists may need time to notify employers. Mark would be calling finalists immediately after that meeting. He also has informed candidates their name may become public when they become semi- finalists. He suggested Council could also wait for a regular meeting. Carrie shared that in order for Council to go into an Executive Session, they will need to adjourn during a normal meeting. Adjourned 3:26 p.m.