The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About08/11/1980 Meeting (2) ~ " M I NUT E S e Special Meeting Eugene City Council August 11, 1980 , Special meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller at 8 a.m., August 11, 1980, in the McNutt Room, with the following councilors present: Betty Smith, Scott Lieuallen, Brian Obie, Jack Delay, D. W. Hamel, Gretchen Miller, and Emily Schue. Councilor Eric Haws was absent. Mayor Keller stated that the purpose of this meeting was for the councilors to meet Ralph Andersen, the consultant from the recruitment firm to aid in the selection of the new city manager, and to hear what Mr. Andersen has in mind for the process. Mayor Keller stated that a key issue for the councilors to think about is the kind of guidance that the council wants to make available to Mr. Andersen and whether he should follow up the department head question- naires with individual interviews. Mr. Andersen thanked staff who had prepared the timeline and various other preparatory materials. He stated that his role is to serve as staff to the e council and the City until a selection for the new city manager is made. The next two days are important since he will be working with the council to deter- mine what characteristics they wish to see in, the new city manager; he will be meeting with each councilor and councilor-elect individually. Some of the things they will be discussing are desired background and experiences, and problems in the community that the new city manager will be expected to help resolve. After the interviews have been held, he will pull together a composite and review it on Wednesday. This will be a set of recruiting guidelines. He will meet with the council as a group to discuss this composite and arrive at consensus. Then, they will move forward with the recruitment process. He noted that it is the council who will select the city manager, but staff has been given an opportunity to provide input. He could interview the department heads if the council wishes. Mr. Andersen stated that after Wednesday, he will place advertisements in the appropriate publications. The entire process will be reviewed on Wednesday. The deadline will be noted in the ads. Between the time of submitting the ads and the deadline for applications, they will take a period of time to talk with people around the United States to develop a list of outstanding candi- dates. They will pull together a list of the cream of the. crop. They will personally invite these people to apply and then those people will be called. This will get the interest of some who might not have otherwise appl ied. Two to three weeks after the deadline, they will do background checks to see if the candidates can do the job a~ministratively and to see if they will be e 8/11/80--1 ~~. - able to work with people. Then, they will provide summary sheets organized by groups. Group I will be those recommended as finalists; Group II will be e the backup group; and Group III will be all others. Then it will be up to the , council to narrow down group candidates to the finalists. They will review the interview process and provide an interviewing booklet for the councilors. Ms. Smith asked, in regard to follow-up with department heads, if he would meet with them as a group or individually. Mr. Andersen responded that he would meet with them individually as time permits. Ms. Wooten asked if he would be reviewing applications that come to Mayor Keller's home; Mr. Andersen responded that he would review all applications. Mr. Lieuallen noted that as resumes arrive in Eugene, they would be categorized and sent to Mr. Andersen's office. He feels it would be good if the council could have copies of those applications here to look at if they desired. Ms. Smith noted that all applications would be available to the councilors. ~. Andersen confirmed Ms. Smith's statement. He said that during the selection of finalists when the background checks are being done, there will be a small group of applicants that will stand apart as outstanding candidates. Mayor Keller noted that the council had previously discussed receiving a progress report before the final deadline, and he asked when that would be. Mr. Delay stated that that would depend upon how the operation is going. Some preliminary assessments must be made. Mr. Andersen stated that between the time of the advertising and the time of the application deadline, effort is spent on identifying outstanding candidates. The bulk of resumes will come in e between October 5 and October 8. They will batch resumes until all are in. Mr. Obie asked how many people Mr. Andersen expects to talk to. Mr. Andersen replied that it is a much tighter labor market now than previously. Reloca- tion costs are sometimes a deterrent. There are more people leaving the pro- fession now than before, but there is a large group who are thinking about it. He feels that Eugene is a fine opportunity and probably will receive between 100-150 applications. Mr. Obie asked how many potential applicants Mr. Andersen would be talking to. Mr. Andersen replied that they will probably invite between 25 and 40 people to apply. Ms. Smith asked if they would be identifying potential candidates from across the country. ~. Andersen replied that they would be looking to identify the cream of the crop. Mr. Obie asked if some of these people have already been identified. ~. Andersen replied that these people will be chosen from a national perspective, but that it will be a customized list, not a standard list. Mr. Obie asked if the guidelines the council has come up with will be different from Springfield or San Jose or other areas. Mr. Andersen responded that they are similar in some respects, but not necessarily in all. - 8/11/80--2 e Mr. Lindberg asked if there would be anyone on the list who was not a city manager. Mr. Andersen responded that there could be assistant city managers or other administrators. In regard to the cream of the crop~ if the council's help would be needed to get them to apply~ Mr. Andersen stated that if only 3 out of the 25 they iden- tified would apply, then they would not be doing their job. It woul d not be unusual, however, for the council to get a call from somewhere else in the country; they should be referred to his office. At any time, if the council has suggestions, they should feel free to pass them on to him and he will follow through. This is a fine career opportunity, and there should be no prob 1 em. The biggest problem may be deciding which person is best suited for the position. In regard to screening, Mr. Delay stated he feels that the most difficult judgments would be between Group I and Group II. Mr. Andersen agreed and said the difference primarily would be in the length of their experience, the depth of their experience, and their ability to work with people. Mr. Delay noted interest in seeing who is going into Group I rather than into Group II to see if they are the people that the council wants. Mr. Andersen noted that after the deadline for the applications and the background checks, the council will get a total briefing. Mr. Delay asked how many candidates would be in the first two groups. Mr. Andersen responded 15-20. Ms. Wooten asked how the background checks are done and confidentiality is e maintained through that process. Mr. Andersen stated that they would go directly to the current council of the applicant and/or ask the applicant to provide work-related references. They have never had confidentiality breached in ten years. At the point of selecting the finalists, they realize that the Eugene Council will have to talk with someone. Ms. Wooten asked if confidentiality is maintained until the finalists' level. Mr. Andersen responded that it is all the way through and the resumes will be held in confidence. Greg Page, City Manager's Office, asked how the council feels about having Mr. Andersen meet with department heads. Ms. Smith stated it would be good to do this as time permits. Mr. Lieuallen indicated that he would appreciate it. Consensus was for Mr. Andersen to meet individually with department heads as time permits. Mr. Obie stated that in regard to progress reports, he hopes that Mr. Page will be in contact with Mr. Andersen's office enough to keep them on the timeline. The heading of the minutes of the August 4 meeting incorrectly stated that the meeting was called to order by Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith moved, seconded by Mr. Lieuallen, to amend the heading to state that it was called to order by Mr. Delay. Motion passed unanimously. e' 8/11/80--3 , - The meeting was adjourned to August 11, 1980, 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, C~yJ~ City Manager (Recorded by Lynda Nelson) CTH:LN:slb/CM8a24 e e 8/11/80--4