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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Ad Hoc Chief Judge Recruitment Committee - 03/02/2020 - Chief Judge Recruitment Ad Hoc Council Committee Minutes March 2, 2020 11:00 am to 12:15 pm Members in attendance: Mayor Wade Troxell; Mayor Pro Tem Kristin Stephens; Council Member Susan Gutowsky; Teresa Roche, Chief Human Resources Officer; Jenny Lopez Filkins, Senior Assistant City Attorney; Catherine MacGowan, HR Business Partner; Lynda Byrnes, HR Business Support A meeting of Chief Judge Recruitment Ad Hoc Council Committee (“Committee”) was held on Monday, March 2, 2020 at 11:00 am in the City Manager’s Conference Room. Agenda: 1. Call meeting to Order a. Approve Minutes from December 31, 2019 Meeting b. Review Today’s Agenda 2. Public Comments (limited to approximately 2 minutes per speaker) 3. Discussion Reviews a. Review And recommend Recruitment Timeline b. Review and Recommend Finalists’ Interview “hold” dates and outline c. Review and Recommend Resolution d. Review and Recommend Assistant Municipal Judge Reappointment Plan 4. Adjournment Mayor Pro Tem Kristin Stephens and Council Member Susan Gutowsky participated by phone. Mayor Troxel called the meeting to order at 11:12 am. Mayor Troxell called to approve the minutes. Mayor Pro Tem Kristin Stephens moved to approve. Council Member Susan Gutowski seconds the motion. All in favor. Ms. Roche discussed the agenda items. Mayor Troxell invited the single member of the public in attendance to speak. Patty Netherton, representing the Municipal Court Staff as a community member shared her concerns and gratitude for the process and will share back with the staff. Mayor Troxell thanked her for her attendance and invited her to share feedback and questions the staff may have. Ms. Roche recaps what has been done to date with stakeholder groups, referencing the many interview/conversation sessions Ms. MacGowan has facilitated. Ms. Roche submitted a high-level timeline to draw attention to where Council needs to note key milestones and where Council needs to be involved. She also included a very detailed timeline that Ms. MacGowan, Mr. Williams (Baker Tilly-Executive Recruiter) and Ms. Roche worked on to guide the overall process. Ms. Roche mentioned that dates were needed where Council action was required: to identify a top candidate and to name Councilmembers who would be involved in negotiations with a top candidate. There was a discussion amongst all attendees about whether a resolution was needed for the negotiations. Mayor Troxell said they could have a resolution at a Council meeting. Council will name the finalist in an open meeting. Ms. Gutowsky asked about how the finalists will come to be presented to Council for consideration and decision. Ms. Roche replied that the Committee will do a deep review of the candidates being put forward by Mr. Williams and recommend a group of top candidates to the Council. After the Council is involved with the interview process, there will be a conversation among Council in an Executive Session to discuss finalists and then in an open meeting, the Council will consider a resolution to identify and negotiate with a top candidate. Mayor Troxell discussed different scenarios/contingencies wherein Council will be involved in negotiations should a consensus of Council on the final candidate not emerge. Ms. Roche then transitioned to a working document Chief Judge Recruitment On-Site Interview Planning Options to review with the Committee. The document represented a framework for blocks of time based on Council calendar and Committee Calendars when they can bring candidates on site. Ms. Roche asked for direction to be provided because all the planning and orchestration depends on some of these decisions. The dates put forward for the onsite interviews with top candidates are April 21, 22 and 23, 2020. The key questions being thought through is what involvement might the full Council want in the on-site interview process, how much involvement do the Council members on the Committee want and how do they want to engage the public. Ms. Roche asked if the Council Members on the Committee have suggestions for participants for the on- site interviews and then discussed the continuum of options for Council and Council members on the Committee. Mayor Troxell suggested there could be two things: a meeting with the Committee and another open meeting with the Council, such as a breakfast. Council may want to have a panel opportunity to deep dive with the candidates. In response to a question by Mayor Troxell regarding if the candidates will be all together when on site, Ms. MacGowan discussed how the candidates may be all together at times and meeting individually with stakeholders such as the municipal court staff at other times. Ms. Roche talked about the groups, which are not necessarily interview panels, but represent recommendation for levels of engagement of certain people: 1. Group 1- Significant participation, more engagement in the on-site interviews. 2. Group 2-All internal participants that represent a talent pool to draw from during the day. 3. Group 3- All external participants, again participation is recommended, and they are potential panelists. 4. Group 4: people who would be good to do tours, lunches, provide insight about the city and Municipal Court, but who are not doing a panel with scripted questions. A menu of suggested activities was presented to “plug and play” in order to create the best on-site experience for candidates, Council, staff and members of the community. Council Member Gutowsky suggested an informal social interaction with the candidates that encouraged “mobility,” so Council Members could mingle and get to know the candidates a little better. Committee discussed this possibility. Committee members agreed to have Council participate in an informal, more social gathering such as a casual meal/dinner followed by a panel where Council Members will get to ask all the candidates more formal questions, with all the candidates in the same room at the same time. Council will have three interactions-- a meal where each candidate will respond to questions by the Council, an informal gathering where others will be present and a public forum. Ms. MacGowan indicated that Wednesday, April 22 would be the day that all the Mayor and Council Members would meet as agreed. Members from the ad hoc committee could be involved on panels to participate in interviews, if desired. Discussion ensued about the involvement of Council regarding participation in the panel interviews. It was decided that Council has opportunities within the structure of the “plug and play” activities to get to know the candidates in order to make informed decisions. The other panel interviews can ask the important questions desired and then provide feedback to Council on that. Decision made that Council Members will NOT be on any interview panels other than the one agreed on and discussed earlier. Discussion transitioned into the best way to have public participation. Ms. Roche indicated that the public would be invited to a forum that would be designed for engagement. Ms. Roche inquired how Council wants to hear the panel feedback. Mayor Troxell asked for the panel interviews to be summarized in some way and then have a debrief with the ad hoc committee and Council. Mayor Troxell asked for a motion made to approve Timeline and Milestones and to recommend it to Council. Mayor Pro Tem Stephens made the Motion. Council member Gutowsky seconded the motion and the motion passed. 11:58 am Mayor Pro Tem Stephens left the meeting. Ms. Roche indicated as of today we have 9 candidates with a promising talent pool. These candidates have been screened by Mr. Williams. Deadline to apply is March 6, 2020 and the possibility is that more candidates may apply. Mayor Troxell wants to know how we determine a viable pool. Mr. Williams still doing passive recruiting and feels there are some very competitive candidates. The Committee will get packets to review of materials prior to March 19 on each candidate showing how the candidates answered the questions, a short video from each candidate and answers to background questions asked. Mr. Williams will be providing insights on the candidates. Council will get an overview of the entire talent pool and then the recommendations for semi-finalists to consider. Ms. Roche indicates that so far of the 9 candidates there are: 1. Four of them are municipal or assistant judge 2. Three of them are prosecutors 3. One of them has a similar State or Federal role A discussion about the in-depth application process occurred and Ms. MacGowan asked if there were any other questions Council would like to see. Mayor Troxell suggested it will be helpful to understand highlights of the applicants when presented. Council Member Gutowsky and Mayor Troxell are interested in the rubric Mr. Williams is using to weigh the viability of all candidates and then what rubric is being used to go from the semi-finalists to the finalists. Mayor Troxell is wanting to see what distinguishes a candidate that proceeds to the next level or does not make it to the next level. Ms. Lopez Filkins raises question on timeline to see if Mayor Troxell is envisioning being able to recommend moving forward on semi-finalists on March 19 to evaluate those candidates that Mr. Williams will be recommending. Through Mr. William’s screening, the semi-finalist pool will have more vetting than just the application process would have revealed. Ms. Lopez Filkins asks if they would like the language amended for March 19 meeting to say Council will meet to review and identify finalist candidates. Committee members agree that the timeline should be amended this way. The Committee’s objective on March 19th is to review semi-finalists and select finalists. Ms. Lopez Filkins will not attend the March 19, 2020 Council meeting. City Attorney Carrie Daggett will be in attendance instead. Last item Ms. Roche brought up is the need to consider the contract extension for Judge Ablao, which will be discussed at the March 19 ad hoc meeting and a resolution to be forward by Chief Judge Lane on May 5. 12:35 pm Meeting stands adjourned.