City Council Meetings

Watertown City Council Mayor Steve Washburn Lindsay Guetzkow Adam Pawelk Michael Walters Dan Schuette 5/19/2021 - Minutes 1. Call To Order And Roll Call Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the special meeting of the Watertown City Council was called to order via Zoom at 4:31 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, 2021 by Mayor Steve Washburn. Council Members present: Washburn, Mike Walters, Adam Pawelk, Lindsay Guetzkow, and Dan Schuette for a portion of the meeting. City Staff present: City Administrator Shane Fineran, Administrative Services Director Lynn Tschudi. Guests: Charlene Stevens with GovHR USA and Liza Donabauer with David Drown and Associates 2. Adopt Agenda GUETZKOW MOVED, WALTERS SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT THE AGENDA. GUETZKOW, WALTERS, WASHBURN VOTED AYE. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. 3. New/Old Business 3.A. Executive Search Services Proposals *Charlene Stevens joined the meeting* Charlene Stevens, Senior VP with GovHR USA shared that she is an executive recruiter and has been with GovHR since 2019. She shared a power point slide with information about the firm. One third of customers are repeat customers and 89% of candidates remain in their position. The firm tailors the process to the City by interviewing stakeholders, understanding the community and other factors. Stevens said the firm coordinates the entire process and screening, so staff is not tasked with additional work. GovHR offers a one-year guarantee for candidates and will conduct a search for free if they leave before the one year. Council asked the following questions to Stevens: 1. (Walters) What techniques do you use to recruit candidates that may not be actively job seeking? What percentage of candidates follow through with application? (Stevens) Stevens said she uses personal and direct outreach. Stevens said she uses Linkdin and her network of employees who may know someone who is looking. GovHR also use their network of peers to search their candidates to see if the position would be a fit. Stevens said a recent search returned around a third of applications. 2. (Guetzkow) What insights to the candidates will you provide that we don’t see on resumes or through the interview process? 1. (Walters) What techniques do you use to recruit candidates that may not be actively job seeking? What percentage of candidates follow through with application? (Stevens) Stevens said she uses personal and direct outreach. Stevens said she uses Linkdin and her network of employees who may know someone who is looking. GovHR also use their network of peers to search their candidates to see if the position would be a fit. Stevens said a recent search returned around a third of applications. 2. (Guetzkow) What insights to the candidates will you provide that we don’t see on resumes or through the interview process? Stevens said the 45 min candidate interview is crucial to find out the background and experiences of a person. Stevens said she will be honest if a candidate does not interview well. GovHR also checks at least two references for each candidate. 3. (Pawelk) Describe how you achieve consensus around a candidate if it does not occur naturally? Stevens said she will narrow the pool down with council and Mayor to a top tier of candidates. She will then assist with further narrowing to one to two candidates. If a decision cannot be made, she will help search for additional applicants. 4. (Washburn) Are there aspects of the search process that you will expect city staff to handle? What resources do you need from them or us? Stevens said she would need assistance from staff setting up stakeholder interviews and securing meeting locations. 5. (Walters) What do you see in the candidate market for our community? What types of candidate experience or background can we expect? Stevens replied that it is a tougher market right now as more people are exiting the market than entering the market. Making sure the City’s salary range is competitive will be important. Stevens said the Midwest draws less applicants than the South due to the climate. 6. (Guetzkow) What difficulties or challenges do you see in our community or organization that we should be concerned about? Stevens said it’s important how you market your community. Stevens noted that the contracted police service for Watertown is appealing to applicants. Also, the history of past City Administrators has been positive as well as the working relationship with the council. Charlene Stevens asked council what their timing is for the decision making process. Washburn said Council will be deciding on the firm tonight and hope to fill the City Administrator position by September. *Charlene Stevens left the meeting* *Lisa Donabauer joined the meeting* Liza Donabauer with David Drown & Associates introduced herself to council. Donabauer said DDA will sit down with stakeholders to discover the goals and needs to create a City profile. This profile will help applicants learn more about the City of Watertown. They then screen candidates to make sure they have attributes that sync with the City’s goals. Donabauer said DDA also conducts video interviews asking five to six questions showcasing the candidate’s personality. DDA will assist council in selecting finalists. The finalists will complete a personality profile and background checks. Donabauer said they interview a current and former supervisor to discuss strengths and weaknesses. DDA continues the search until the perfect fit is found for the City. 1. (Walters) What techniques do you use to recruit candidates that may not be actively job seeking? What percentage of candidates follow through with application? Donabauer said she uses networking and personal outreach. She estimates that around 20-25% of her outreach is applying for each position. 2. (Guetzkow) What insights to the candidates will you provide that we don’t see on resumes or through the interview process? Donabauer said information received from the candidate’s personal references will be provided to council. This information would be provided in DDA’s narrative about the candidate. 3. (Pawelk) Describe how you achieve consensus around a candidate if it does not occur naturally?  2. (Guetzkow) What insights to the candidates will you provide that we don’t see on resumes or through the interview process? Donabauer said information received from the candidate’s personal references will be provided to council. This information would be provided in DDA’s narrative about the candidate. 3. (Pawelk) Describe how you achieve consensus around a candidate if it does not occur naturally? Donabauer explained that after the semifinalists are selected, a ballot is handed out to council. These ballots are used to vote without others talking them out of their opinion. Donabauer said this process works really great. 4. (Washburn) Are there aspects of the search process that you will expect city staff to handle? What resources do you need from them or us? DDA will send over a checklist which includes items needed: mission statement, budget, photos, etc. There will be a quick turnaround needed on the beginning items. Donabauer said near the end, staff will be needed to coordinate scheduling with council and candidates. 5. (Walters) What do you see in the candidate market for our community? What types of candidate experience or background can we expect? Donabauer said she is seeing a large quantity of candidates over the past couple of years. For the Watertown role she is seeing someone with at least five years of experience who is resourceful and has Economic Development background. 6. (Guetzkow) What difficulties or challenges to do see in our community or organization that we should be concerned about? Donabauer said that since council gets along and there is no city drama, she does not foresee any barriers for applicants. *Liza Donabauer left the meeting* Council Member Walters likes the 18-24 month guarantee provided by DDA. Guetzkow said she is leaning more toward DDA because of the current and former supervisor conversations that they will have. Council Member Pawelk said that GovHR felt very organized and structured where DDA gave more off the cuff and non-scripted answers. He felt Liza really wanted to work with council and get to know them more. His initial reaction is to hire DDA for the search firm. City Administrator Fineran said both firms would be a great choice. As a candidate, Fineran said he received a personal phone call from GovHR early in the search process, which he appreciated. Mayor Washburn also liked the 2-year guarantee and use of the ballot for deciding on a candidate. Washburn agreed with Fineran in that there is not a bad choice. WALTERS MOVED, PAWELK SECONDED A MOTION TO HIRE DAVID DROWN & ASSOCIATES FOR EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM FOR CITY ADMINISTRATOR RECRUITMENT. WALTERS, PAWELK, GUETZKOW, AND WASHBURN VOTING AYE. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 3.B. Interim City Administrator Mayor Washburn said he feels there is one clear choice, Jeff O’Neill. Mr. O’Neill is the former City Administrator of Monticello, MN where he served for 30 years. He served as City Administrator at the City of Watertown in the mid-eighties. WASHBURN MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2021-62, APPROVING INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR SERVICES. WASHBURN, GUETZKOW, PAWELK, WALTERS, AND SCHUETTE VOTING AYE. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 4. Adjournment WALTERS MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 6:02 PM. WALTERS, GUETZKOW, PAWELK, AND WASHBURN VOTING AYE. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 309 Lewis Avenue South; P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN 55388  WALTERS MOVED, GUETZKOW SECONDED A MOTION TO ADJOURN AT 6:02 PM. WALTERS, GUETZKOW, PAWELK, AND WASHBURN VOTING AYE. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 309 Lewis Avenue South; P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN 55388