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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/10/08 Work SessionM I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon September 10, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka (via telephone), Bonny Bettman (via telephone). Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that Mr. Zelenka and Ms. Bettman were participating by telephone. A. WORK SESSION: Police Auditor Recruitment Process Alana Holmes, Human Resources, referred to information in the agenda packet related to the seven recruitment firms who had responded with information regarding the search for a police auditor. She said the council would select two firms to interview by phone following the September 17 work session. She said a decision based on the results of those interviews could be made at the council’s September 24 work session. Ms. Holmes said the seven firms were evaluated using a screening matrix that included factors such as cost, experience, process and timeline and access to candidates. She reviewed the results for the following firms: ? Alliance Resources Counseling ? Avery Associates ? Bob Murray & Associates ? Mercer Group ? Prothman ? Waldron & Company ? Walters-Oldani Ms. Taylor suggested determining if there were any firms in which no one was interested. She was most interested in Alliance and Waldron and would consider Avery or Mercer, but was not interested in Prothman or Bob Murray & Associates. Mr. Poling indicated he was interested in Bob Murray & Associates based on the information provided and the council’s previous experience with the firm. He was not interested in moving any of the other firms forward. Mr. Pryor said he liked Bob Murray & Associates and Alliance. He would be willing to consider Avery if three firms were interviewed. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 10, 2008 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Solomon concurred with Mr. Pryor’s remarks and would support Bob Murray & Associates and Alliance, with Avery a third choice. Ms. Ortiz concurred with Mr. Pryor and Ms. Solomon. She said Alliance and Bob Murray & Associates scored the highest in the category of police auditor experience. Mr. Clark thanked staff for their work. He concurred with Mr. Pryor, Ms. Solomon and Ms. Ortiz. Ms. Bettman stated she could not support moving Bob Murray &Associates forward to an interview because of her previous experience with the firm. She felt the firm selected should be able to penetrate many different markets because there were so few police auditors and it would be necessary to identify people with the requisite skills. She also did not like the fact that the individual in Bob Murray & Associates who would be managing the recruitment process had a background in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). She supported interviewing Alliance, Mercer and Waldron. Mr. Zelenka said he did not want to interview Bob Murray & Associates and would support interviewing Alliance, Avery, Mercer and Waldron as they all seemed to be qualified. Ms. Taylor strongly objected to Bob Murray & Associates. She liked Waldron because of its familiarity with Oregon and would also consider Alliance, Mercer or Avery. Mr. Poling felt that Bob Murray & Associates had done a good job with a previous recruitment. He pointed out that the council was not hiring an individual to conduct the recruitment; it was hiring a firm. He noted that Bob Murray & Associates had the highest total score with the lowest cost and Waldron had the lowest total score with the highest cost according to the screening matrix. He said using Bob Murray & Associates could start the recruitment process as soon as possible, with the lowest cost. Ms. Piercy thanked staff for providing the information to help inform the council’s decision. She noted that seven councilors liked Alliance and five councilors were interested in Bob Murray & Associates. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to interview by phone the top three recruitment firms on Wednesday, September 17, 2008. The firms to be interviewed are: Alliance Resources Consulting, Bob Murray & Associates and Waldron and Company. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to amend the motion by substituting Mercer Group for Waldron and Company. The motion passed, 7:1; Ms. Taylor voting no. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to delete Bob Murray & Associates from the interview process. The motion failed, 6:2; Ms. Bettman and Ms. Taylor voting yes. The main motion as amended passed, 7:1; Mr. Poling voting no. Ms. Holmes asked councilors to suggest issues to be addressed in the interview process so staff could draft a set of questions for the interview process. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 10, 2008 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Ortiz said Eugene’s recruitment should be a top priority for the firm selected. Ms. Bettman asked that questions developed by council officers be included. She wanted the process to be sufficiently flexible to allow for follow-up questions when appropriate. She said the questions used to select a firm during the last city manager recruitment process worked well and should be included. Mr. Clark suggested taking advantage of Ms. Ortiz’s attendance at the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) conference to identify potential candidates and obtain information on oversight systems used in other jurisdictions. He was interested in questioning firms about their previous experience in other markets and what they learned about those police oversight models that might be of assistance to the council. Ms. Ortiz said she would distribute recruitment information at the NACOLE conference. Mr. Zelenka said the firms should be asked how many other clients they had and how many recruitment processes would be conducted at the same time; they should also be asked about their scope of geography. Ms. Piercy commented that the oversight models used in other jurisdictions was a different issue. Mr. Clark said he was interested in the opinion of an objective third party about the systems in place elsewhere. He wanted information about different approaches to oversight and what had worked or not worked in other places that could assist the council to create a stronger system and determine the type of person to fill the police auditor position. Ms. Piercy did not think a recruitment firm was the right source for that information. Ms. Bettman said an evaluative role was not appropriate for a recruiter and those types of questions should not be a part of the interview process. She said there was extensive information on oversight models available from NACOLE and other organizations that the council could use for that purpose. Mr. Clark said his intent was to probe the recruitment firms’ understanding of the types of oversight models in use. Ms. Holmes said she would develop a list of questions for the interview process and email them to councilors for further refinement. The meeting adjourned at 12:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 10, 2008 Page 3 Work Session