Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 01-13-09 regular agenda — reading text

a 60 -day notice for her resignation, and reminded that Mr. Miller was not present at that meeting. Mr. Miller advised he read the minutes. Mr. Minich called for a point of order stating Mr. Miller's legal point of order requires a ruling from the Chair. The Mayor stated he did not see the need for Mr. Miller's legal point of order and clarified that Council did amend the contract at the December 9th Council meeting to allow the City Manager to give a 30- day notice, and that the contract states it can be amended by the vote of Council. Mr. Miller requested a legal: interpretation from the City Attorney. Mr. Minich stated the ruling was made by the Mayor and asked that the discussion move forward. The Mayor asked the City Attorney for her legal .opinion, to make. absolutely sure the contract has been legally amended. The City Attorney responded that it is her legal opinion that what has occurred so far is legally acceptable; that at the last meeting Council accepted a 30 -day notice, and the question was when the 30 -day notice started. The Mayor stated his ruling there is no legal point of order and asked that the discussion move on. The City Attorney advised that the Council has the decision as to when the acting city manager will be appointed and that the resignation date stated in the resignation letter could be changed if Council decided to, but she could not state specifically whether that would be a violation of the contract. The Mayor advised he wanted to proceed with the agenda as presented. Mr. Minich moved to amend Roberts Rules of Order to eliminate the need for a motion in order to have Council discussion. Mr. Garvie seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. CONSIDERTION OF RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE Consideration of Recruitment Schedule for the selection of a new City Manager. Mark Wiltsie, Human Resources Director, explained the two Recruitment Schedule alternatives. The first alternative would be to, immediately following tonight' s meeting, fast track the recruitment process to ensure the current Council members appoint a new City Manager. The closing date for receipt of applications for this alternative is February 6, 2009.  on 1 Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE ( CONT) Mr. Wiltsie said the second alternative provides the recruitment schedule to be designed to advertise and recruit for the position and provide for the selection process to occur after April 1, 2009, and would provide the City Council members seated at that time to participate in the selection, appointment, and contract negotiations. The closing date for receipt of applications for this alternative is May 12, 2009. Discussion ensued on the fact that a recruitment schedule for an external recruiter cannot be determined; what is being suggested is that a schedule be provided by the City to an external recruiter, either Alternative 1 or Alternative 2, and that an acceptance of one of the alternatives does not eliminate the possibility of an external hiring firm. Dr. Pullen discussed a scenario, for Council' s consideration if they chose, that the position of City Manager be advertised for a certain period of time, perhaps until the middle of February, and that all applications be maintained by the City Clerk's office, or whoever Council designated, and that the applications be distributed among Council to shortlist in their own minds, and that the in- coming Council be involved in providing their opinion to individual Council members so they have a say in the selection during the discussion when the selection is being made, but that the current Council have the final vote. Dr. Pullen stated if Council thought that was a good idea, dates could be determined. The City Attorney expressed concern as to when the Sunshine Law applies to Council- elect, but believed there would be an issue after the election and before they take a seat, during the timeframe that is being discussed. 5 Mr. Hartwell commented that the Council is hiring a City Manager for all the citizens of the City and a not for the incoming Council, and that to say the Council is hiring for the incoming Council is the wrong attitude, since Council represents the citizens of the City and not the incoming Council. At. Secondly, Mr. Hartwell commented that the Council was elected to govern using the form of government the City has, that the City Council hires the City Manager, not a pool of citizens with their x inputs and down' selecting. Thirdly, Mr. Hartwell commented that he does not want to see the corporate knowledge of the existing Council lost, and this Council should hire the City Manager, as it takes a year or longer for a Council to understand the workings of the City. Mr. Minich disagreed with Mr. Hartwell on the last comment he made, stating that he has heard Council members state they did not care what previous Council' s decided, and he does not want to see the next City Manager subject to that type of thinking. Mr. Minich believed the incoming Council should be the ones to hire their City Manager, not the current Council. Mr. Reeves echoed his agreement with Mr. Minich and would rather invest the time into the selection process to ensure the best individual is selected for the job rather than hurry it along. Mr. Garvie agreed that the incoming Council should have the opportunity to select the new City Manager. Dr. Pullen added that the present Council could shortlist the candidates and the incoming Council could still make the decision. Dr. Pullen also felt it is important to establish whether the screening process will be done internally or through an outside hiring firm. The Mayor clarified the alternatives being discussed are assuming the process will be done internally. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. Kabe Woods, 240 Brooks Street, requested that Council not rush in their decision as it is an important decision for both the individual being considered and for those making the selection, and suggested that Alternative 2 would be the wise decision. 82 Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE ( CONT) As no one else wished to speak public input was closed. Mr. Minich moved to proceed with Recruitment Schedule Alternative 2, designed to advertise and recruit for the position and provide for the selection process to occur after April 1, 2009 to provide that the City Council members seated at that time would participate in the selection, appointment, and contract negotiations,and for the hiring date to be May 12, 2009, the first meeting in May. Mr. Holmes seconded motion. Mr. Minich explained his thought that the date of May 12 will give the incoming Council the opportunity to have a few meetings under their belt before going through the hiring process. Mr. Holmes stated that after April 2, 2009, the Council will be able to contact the outgoing Council to discuss the list of candidates and that the corporate knowledge will still be available, and that the process should not be fast -tracked and that the outgoing Council will have the same opportunity as everyone else to review the applicants. Mr. Hartwell questioned exactly how much time is considered adequate in the advertising process according to the search firms contacted for proposals. Mr. Wiltsie responded that the proposals from the three search firms provide different number of days for the entire process. Mr. Hartwell noted that using the same process recommended by the search firms, the fast track recommended by Staff is 76 days vs. 60 days, which is longer than the recommendations of the search firms, and that the time has been doubled to 125 days saying the process should not be fast tracked. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion to proceed with Recruitment Schedule Alternative 2, designed to advertise and recruit for the position and provide for the selection process to occur after April 1, 2009 to provide that the City Council members seated at that time would participate in the selection, appointment, and contract negotiations, and for the hiring date to be May 12, .2009, the first meeting in May and it carried by a vote of 6 to"1- with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell,.-and Minich in favor and Miller opposed. INTERNAL /EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT Consideration to proceed with either an internal recruitment or authorize staff to execute an agreement with a search firm to conduct an executive search for the next City Manager. Mr. Wiltsie discussed the advantages /disadvantages with either internal or external recruiting, citing additional staff time and a slower process if done internally, and the cost of doing an external search. He advised the cost of Slavin Management Consultants is a not -to- exceed $ 20, 797. 50; the cost for the Mercer Group is a not -to- exceed $ 22, 000; and Colin Baenziger & Associates has offered to perform the search at no cost to the City, to include both fees and expenses. The City Manager was asked about the process that the City of Ormond Beach used in the selection process, and she advised the former City Manager served as an executive recruiter at no charge to the City, and they did not use a professional search firm. The Mayor clarified that the search firm offering their services for free is the same firm that did the recruiting for the City' s previous Finance Director, and that none of the three firms are local. Discussion included the major information that will be provided to Council from Staff from applicants, including name, address, and education; salary and benefit expectations; and previous experience, whether public or private sector. It was noted that in the past, Council was provided two lists, one of those who met minimum requirements and those who did not. Mr. Wiltsie advised that with the matrix Staff will provide, it will be easy for those screening the applications to determine who meets the qualifications.  AM Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 INTERNAL /EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT (CONT) Mr. Hartwell was advised that the matrix can be expanded to include additional information, and that the candidate profile being placed on the City' s web site by Staff for interested applicants can be given to a professional search firm and they can do the same thing, thus saving Staff time. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As no one wished to speak public input was closed. Mr. Holmes moved to direct Staff to proceed with the internal recruitment of the City Manager. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. Mr. Holmes stated his confidence in Staff's ability to undertake this process. Mr. Reeves supported the motion stating he cannot see paying