Board of Commissioners Meetings

8 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Called Work Session Meeting on January 23, 2018 A Called Work Session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Henderson, Kentucky, was held on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, at 4:45 p.m. in the third floor Assembly Room, Municipal Center, 222 First Street, Henderson, Kentucky. There were present the Honorable Steve Austin, Mayor, presiding. PRESENT: Commissioner Patti Bugg Commissioner Robert N. Pruitt, Sr. Commissioner Bradley S. Staton Commissioner Austin P. Vowels CITY STAFF MEMBERS included Russell R. Sights, City Manager; Dawn Kelsey, City Attorney; Maree Collins, City Clerk; Donna Stinnett, Public Information Officer; Robert Gunter, Finance Director; Connie Galloway, Human Resources Director; Trace Stevens, Parks, Recreation & Cemeteries Director; Jennifer Latimer, Executive Assistant; and Mike Richardson, Police Reserve Officer. ALSO PRESENT: Douglas White, The Gleaner THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED: 1. Review and Discussion of City Manager Search Plan  City Manager Russell R. Sights read the following prepared statement into the record: I have not discussed the filling of the city manager position with the Board as a whole. But I would ask you to consider my comments in a professional manner, because that is the way I intend to present them. As long as I serve as City Manager, I will provide the best professional advice possible always on city government issues. Please consider the city government organization and the applicants for the position in establishing the time frame for employment of the new city manager. There was a vacancy in the city manager position in July, 1981 and the commissioners in office at the time said to let the new Board of Commissioners scheduled to take office January 1, 1982 select the new manager. The new manager was hired in March, 1982. In 2008, the city manager was hired during the first five months of a new term of office for the Mayor and Commissioners. The last six months of a current administration is not a good time to be employing the city manager. The best time is during the first six months of the Mayor's new term along with the new commissioners at the beginning of the term and not at the end. If you complete the recruitment process for the new manager during the last nine months of your current term, you will never know "what you may have gotten". The reason I say that is many professionals will not even apply when looking at a proposed schedule that would show the successful applicant arriving in Henderson in July or August with a general election in November and the possibility of new board members in January. If some of the applicants are even unemployed, they might not be willing to relocate not knowing who the new board members might be who would be taking office in just a few months. There is certainly more job security for any manager who comes in at the beginning of a new term of office for elected officials rather than in the last six months of a term.  9 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Called Work Session Meeting on January 23, 2018 I ask the Board to look at what is best for the City of Henderson. This is not self serving on my part because I am scheduled to end my employment on June 30, 2018. If the current Board does not want me to continue past this June, then consider appointing an interim city manager and delay the appointment of the new manager until the appointment can be considered by the new Board of Commissioners so that the new manager would be able to work with all the officials who had hired him or her. I will be pleased to discuss these comments further on request either now or in the next few days. Thank you.  Discussion was held regarding the schedule with a target date for an offer to a candidate of the last week of March; and that a motion would be brought forward during the regular meeting to adopt the schedule as presented and authorizing the Mayor final approval of the advertisement upon preparation by Human Resources department staff. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ 2. Review and Discussion of Police Chief Selection Process  Commissioner Staton presented a Proposed Police Chief Hiring Timeline for review by the Board.  Discussion was held regarding the timeline with a target hire date of late May; should the process be opened up for both internal and external candidates; how the former hiring process was conducted and some of the reasons it was conducted as an internal process; should the new City Manager be included in the process and if so, at what point and how best to facilitate that; that the only goal is to find the best person possible; that this is an advisory committee and that the final recommendation will ultimately come from the City Manager to be voted on by the Board of Commissioners; historically the committee reviews applications, conducts interviews, determines who goes for formal assessments conducted by an outside facilitator, reviews results from assessments and makes a recommendation to the city manager for his final determination; that a city can have only one city manager at a time; that this hiring process is unique in that both City Manager and Police Chief positions are being filled at the same time; Commissioner Bugg asked if there was any reason that this couldn’t be postponed a few months; and the complexities of scheduling both committees simultaneously. It was determined to Table discussion on the Police Chief Hiring Process and to schedule a called work session for 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, February 13th for further discussion. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ 10 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Called Work Session Meeting on January 23, 2018 MEETING ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Staton, seconded by Commissioner Bugg to adjourn. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Staton ----- Aye: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Bugg ------ Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Mayor Austin -------------- Aye: WHEREUPON Mayor Austin declared the work session adjourned at approximately 5:10 p.m. ________________________ Steve Austin, Mayor ATTEST: February 13, 2018 ________________________ Maree Collins, City Clerk