CC Minutes - 06/10/02 Work Session

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proceed with the development of the criteria. The actual selection of a new manager would be in the hands of the new council. Ms. Bettman believed the process of hiring of the manager should focus on who was the best manager for the second-largest city in Oregon. She hoped to move forward quickly and search for a city manager as extraordinary as the community. She was dismayed that the former manager had informed the council that he was resigning the previous October, and now the council was proposing to postpone the next phase of the search until October 2002. She said that was a "political ploy" to postpone the decision until another council with a "certain make-up" was in place to make the decision. Ms. Bettman said that argued to her that the decision would not be made on the basis of best qualified candidate, but rather on the basis of politics. She was very disappointed about that. Ms. Bettman referred to the time line and the assertion that the October time line would enhance the recruiters' ability to come up with better candidates. She said that both time lines appeared to be predicated on a six-month time period and asked why the six months between July and September was not as good as the six months between September and March 2003. Mr. Chouinard said the recruiter believed that to attract the best candidates, such as those not currently looking for a job, candidates would need to know that the people hiring them were the people they would be working for. Ms. Bettman believed that the recruiter was reinforcing the political nature of the issue. Mr. Chouinard said that the recruiter did not consider the politics of the council. He was unaware of those issues. Ms. Bettman asked if staff were sure the process would only take six months, and if there were factors that could slow or delay the process. Mr. Chouinard said that the public involvement component of the process would drive the timing in part, and the council had made no decision about that. He thought that aside from the unknowns of that issue, six months would be adequate. Ms. Bettman suggested that said that the council could start the process in July but not hire a manager until January 2003. Mr. Chouinard said that was possible, but the more time there was in the process the more likely it was the City would lose some good candidates to other cities across the country. Ms. Bettman suggested late August or early September as a middle ground. Mr. Chouinard said part of the reasoning behind Option B was to ensure that the process did not extend into the holiday season. Ms. Bettman thought that consistent with her position. Ms. Nathanson supported Option B. She said that a manager's job was to implement the decisions of a majority of the council, and she did not see the decision before the council as a political decision. All of the councilors would want a good, professional city manager. She said that the politics of the community and council would be a factor for the candidates to consider, but so was the demeanor and working style of the councilors. She believed that the candidate would be interviewing the council and the City organization as much as the reverse was true. Mayor Torrey supported Option B because he thought an interested candidate would want to know the outcome of the charter review referral. He thought the council would have a true reflection of ward boundaries when the new councilors took their seats. He believed the council was blessed to have an acting city manager who was as competent and understanding of the City's needs as City Manager pro tern Jim Carlson. He said Eugene was not an easy city to manage, and there were qualified people that would be scared away by the politics of Eugene. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 2002 Page 10 Work Session