Council Special Meeting

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING CITY OF MONTEREY Wednesday, January 23, 2013 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBER, FEW MEMORIAL HALL OF RECORDS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Councilmembers Present: Councilmembers Downey, Haffa, Selfridge, Sollecito, Della Sala Absent: None City Staff City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, Deputy City Manager, Present: Plans & Public Works, Police Chief, Chief of Planning, Engineering, and Environmental Compliance, Senior Assistant City Clerk CALL TO ORDER Mayor Della Sala called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m. and stated the evening session, where Council was to discuss City Priorities and Building Relationships, has been postponed. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Della Sala opened public comments on items not on the agenda and seeing no requests to speak closed public comments. PUBLIC APPEARANCE 1. Receive Presentations of Proposals from Selected Recruitment Agencies Regarding the City Manager Recruitment, with Award of Contract to Chosen Agency. (Human Resources - 502-11) Action: Awarded Contract for City Manager Recruitment to CPS HR Consulting (4-1, Downey voting No) Benefits Manager Maloney introduced the item, describing how agency proposals were screened by Councilmembers Haffa and Sollecito acting as a Council subcommittee with the result that 4 agencies were selected to present to Council tonight. Ms. Maloney noted that one of the four agencies could not attend tonight's meeting, thereby reducing the number of finalists to three: CPS HR Consulting, Bob Murray & Associates, and William Avery & Associates. Stuart Satow, representing CPS HR Consulting, stated his agency is unique because it is a public agency and went on to describe who they are and what they do for their clients. Mr. Satow depicted a normal recruitment process as a 4 to 5 month process starting from the award of the contract to the date the new employee starts work at the City. He discussed how, when, and who he recommends interviewing in Monterey to learn the requirements of the position and the outreach and selection processes available to the Council. He broke processes down into several phases, noting that an assessment center process can be included if desired. He concluded his presentation by describing which background checks would be performed and how CPS assists the City with the contract negotiation phase. Mr. Satow responded to several Council questions. In regards to CPS's 2 year guarantee, he stated CPS redoes a recruitment for free should the new employee leave the City for any reason within the first two years of employment, noting only actual expenses incurred by the second recruitment would be charged. He stated that a typical pool of candidates could start City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 23, 2013 with 50-70 applicants and CPS narrows that down to 15-20 applicants, noting that the Council would receive information on the final 15-20 applicants along with CPS's assessment of which of those are the best fit and which are a good fit. He added that Council would select who to interview and should expect to interview in person about 6 applicants. Mr. Satow agreed with Councilmember Sollecito's statement that a unanimous vote by the Council for appointment is the desired goal of the recruitment. Mr. Satow provided insights on use of town hall meetings and how CPS works with Council to create the ideal candidate description used to solicit applications. Mr. Satow stated they do not have any local city manager recruitments that would conflict with the City of Monterey recruitment. Mayor Della Sala opened public comment on CPS' presentation and seeing no requests to speak closed public comment. Council asked Benefits Manager Maloney to have all 3 representatives stay until the conclusion of presentations so that if needed, representatives could answer any follow on questions the Council might have. Regan Williams, representing Bob Murray & Associates, stated his firm places a high value on its client and wants to do a search that fits the client's needs. Mr. Williams described the database that they use and his agency as the premier company for city manager and city administrator recruitments. He stated they are currently doing a recruitment for the City of Marina, but noted Monterey and Marina are 2 different cities and the applicant pool should be different for both cities. Mr. Williams noted some recent recruitments his firm has done in the county and the 11-step process used by his firm to conduct recruitments. He indicated his firm has a 1-year guarantee should the new employee leave the City for any reason. Mr. Williams described different formats used for soliciting applicants and described difficulties the City may face in the current economic climate getting an ideal candidate. Mr. Williams responded to several Council questions. He described how he would help the Council get feedback from the community and help the Council determine what qualities they want in a new city manager and media formats to be used to solicit applications. He clarified that his firm would help Council find the top 5 candidates that have the right fit and desire for the position. He stressed that it is best to have a 5-0 appointment vote as anything less than a 5-0 vote may deter an applicant from taking the position. He described how his use of a blind force ranking by the Council could help Council come to consensus. He stated that although an assessment center could be used, he finds that multiple panels evaluating candidates is a good way to find the right candidate, noting that any additional panels would be advisory panels to the Council. Mayor Della Sala opened public comment on this presentation and seeing no requests to speak closed public comment. Paul Kimura, representing William Avery & Associates, stated his firm has been in business since 1983 and their goal has always been to build a better public sector recruitment model. He stated they purposefully diversify their work, not focusing in on any one discipline, as they feel it makes them more responsive. He stressed they do well in communities that support the public process and described how they use an online form for public input. Mr. Kimura responded to several Council questions. He stated that measuring the organization fit with a particular Council is less of a science and more of an art. He stated that behavioral interviewing helps him identify problem areas and determine what is important to the Council. He concurred that having a unanimous vote for a city manager is important because candidates are looking for that kind of vote and candidates may have issues with taking an assignment if the vote is other than 5-0. He stated his firm redoes a recruitment if a candidate leaves the City within the first year for free, plus out of pocket expenses. M. Kimura stated his firm uses a survey tool to get community feedback, described other ways of engaging the community, and how his firm attracts and targets specific applicants. He noted that this recruitment would not 2 City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 23, 2013 conflict with any other recruitment that they have currently in process. He described the time schedule and noted that sometimes a candidate may have a contract with a 90-day notice requirement that could factor into how quickly a new city manager could start work. He agreed that starting the process now should give the City enough time to appoint a new city manager by the end of June. Mayor Della Sala opened public comment on this presentation and seeing no requests to speak closed public comment. Council invited all 3 representatives back into the Chamber to answer additional question. Mayor Della Sala asked all 3 representatives to say why their firm is above the other two firms. Mr. Williams stated his firm does the majority of the city manager / city administrator recruitments in California and the Western United States, stressing that means they have a history of doing more and doing them very well. He noted Council's decision tonight is to find the firm that will give them the most comfortable working relationship. Mr. Kimura stated his firm does 2 things exceptionally well: behavioral interviewing, where they take the requirements of the job and interview based on that, and the format of the assessment document they provide on each candidate. Mr. Satow CPS stated his firm has specialists for preparing an assessment center, noting that those are normally used for public safety, but could be used for other recruitments as well. He stressed that his firm does very well in developing strong relationships with candidates and the firm continually self-assesses to improve their performance. For example, he stated, CPS would ask the City of Monterey after the recruitment is over to rank the firm. He stated that within the firm they have both individual and companywide performance plans targeted at improvement of their client services. Mayor Della Sala opened public comments and seeing no requests to speak closed public comments. Councilmember Haffa stated he felt strongest about CPS, citing their 2-year guarantee, their status as a public agency, and because their client satisfaction is 4.6 on a scale to 5.0. Councilmember Downey stated she is more comfortable with Avery based on the outcomes she has seen in after a recruitment Avery did for Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG). She added that Avery is located closest to Monterey in Los Gatos. Councilmember Sollecito agreed this is a tough decision and found reasons to support all 3 candidates. Mayor Della Sala stated CPS was the only firm to answer all the questions he had prepared to ask before he asked them, stressing the firm had crafted its presentation based on what the Council wanted done and had laid it out very clearly for the City. Councilmember Selfridge stated she was most comfortable with Avery, liked CPS, but did not want Bob Murray & Associates as they had had a negative recruitment some years ago. Councilmember Sollecito stated he could go with CPS. Councilmember Downey stated she would prefer to go with Avery and Councilmember Haffa stated he would be happy with either CPS or Avery. On a motion by Mayor Della Sala, seconded by Councilmember Haffa, and carried by the following vote, the City Council awarded a contract to CPS HR Consulting for the City Manager Recruitment: AYES: 4 COUNCILMEMBERS: Haffa, Selfridge, Sollecito, Della Sala NOES: 1 COUNCILMEMBERS: Downey ABSENT: 0 COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSTAIN: 0 COUNCILMEMBERS: None RECUSED: 0 COUNCILMEMBERS: None 3  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 23, 2013 ***Adjourn to Closed Session*** Mayor Della Sala adjourned the meeting to closed session at 5:38 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLOSED SESSION At 6:30 p.m. the City Council adjourned from its closed session meeting. In regards to Item cs1, a Conference with Legal Council - Existing Litigation Pursuant to Government Code §54956.9(a) Name of Case: Turn Down the Lights v. City of Monterey, on a roll call vote the City Council gave confidential direction to its negotiators (4-1) with Councilmember Selfridge voting No. ADJOURNMENT Having no more business before the Council at its afternoon session, Mayor Della Sala adjourned the meeting at 6:31 p.m. Senior Assistant City Clerk at 7:00 p.m. noted that there were no Councilmember present and adjourned the meeting due to lack of a quorum. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENTS OTHER BUSINESS 2. Council Discussion on City Priorities and Building Relationships (Council - 701-01) Action: Not heard by Council; evening session adjourned for lack of quorum Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Catherine A. Raynor Chuck Della Sala Senior Assistant City Clerk Mayor 4