Laserfiche WebLink
Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to direct the city manager to executive a <br />contract with Bennett Yarger Associates to assist the City Council with the re- <br />cruitment and hiring of a city manager. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz hoped that the process would move swiftly and be completed by the end of the year. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor thanked Ms. Ortiz for her modified motion, which strengthened the relationship between the City <br />Council and the recruitment firm. He agreed with the selection of Bennett Yarger Associates and felt that <br />the selection process had gone well, with the subcommittee generally in agreement with the choice. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman concurred with Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Pryor's remarks. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling supported the motion and the recommendations of his fellow members of the subcommittee. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka pointed out that many contracts included "non-poaching" clauses that prevent a firm from <br />attempting to recruit a candidate it had already placed and Bennett Yarger had placed many people in city <br />manager positions in comparable cities. Ms. Holmes said she would check into that issue. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if criteria for a city manager and outcomes anticipated in three to five years had been <br />discussed with the firms. Ms. Holmes said that would be part of the next step of the process. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka observed that $20,000 seemed like a fairly low fee. He asked if Robert Neher of Bennett <br />Yarger would do the recruitment. Ms. Holmes said Mr. Neher had indicated he would be the primary <br />person working with the City on the recruitment process. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked how many other recruitments the firm was undertaking at the same time. Ms. Holmes <br />said she would provide that information. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor hoped that all councilors would be deciding on city manager criteria and not just the subcommit- <br />tee. Ms. Holmes said that would be something the full council would be involved in. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy said the only remaining work for the subcommittee was to establish a tentative schedule for <br />the remainder of the process. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if 90 days was a feasible timeframe to complete the process. Ms. Holmes said that Mr. <br />Neher felt that timeframe possible. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark was uncomfortable with expediting the process. He wanted the City to hire the best possible <br />candidate and wanted the option to take longer if that was what was needed. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz felt that 90 days was a reasonable amount of time, but it could be extended if necessary. She did <br />not want an open-ended process and wanted to see a person in that leadership role as soon as possible. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman remarked that all of the firms thought 90 days was a reasonable period. She said most firms <br />had similar processes for working with the council to establish criteria and objectives. She said that Bennett <br />Yarger provided a wide range of services to jurisdictions beyond recruitment, including training, audits and <br />budgeting and had many contacts in local governments that would provide access to high quality candidates. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />