Council OKs city administrator search firm contract with start date of April 1
Trending
During its third special meeting in as many weeks on Monday night, the Marshalltown city council removed a tabled item on hiring the search firm MGT of America (formerly known as GovHR) to find a new city administrator and approved a motion to move forward with the process, with the caveat that the work not begin until April 1.
With Jeff Schneider absent, the first motion to take the item off the table passed by a 5-1 tally with Barry Kell opposed. The council then moved on to approving a contract with MGT at a cost of $24,500 and using Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) to pay for it. After the initial motion was made and seconded, Councilor Greg Nichols said he felt the starting date should be April 1 so that they would have time to be prepared.
Kell, initially at least, felt the motion was "out of order" but added that he fully supported the idea of using a consultant this time around.
"We're evaluating a proposal without us first identifying what we're looking for. To me, it just seems like we've got the timeline wrong and we're asking people to solve our problems without first trying to identify what we're looking for," he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff, who filled in for usual Mayor Joel Greer in his absence, said he agreed with the April 1 start date and asked City Human Resources Director Jill Petermeier if they would need to do "anything special."
"We wouldn't have to do anything special. Once we sign the contract, we will owe them 40 percent of the cost, though. So if we sign it now, we'll go ahead and do that, and then they will establish the timeframe from there," Petermeier said. "I can let them know that you want to do an April 1 (start), and they'll do everything from there. Part of their steps is for the recruiter to come in and meet with you guys for about an hour and a half (to) two hours to talk about what you're looking for too, so that would help address (issues) before we start the recruitment process for that."
She added that the recruiter could come to Marshalltown and visit with the council sometime yet this month if the council approved the motion on the floor. Nichols then asked if she had received any updates on the company's interim city administrator services, and Petermeier said she had not.
Nichols then moved to amend the motion for the April 1 start date, and the amendment passed 5-1 with Councilor Gary Thompson opposed. The council then voted on the amended resolution, and it passed by a unanimous vote.
The contract indicates a 14-week timeline with six separate phases -- position assessment, position announcement and brochure; advertising, candidate recruitment and outreach; candidate evaluation and screening; presentation of recommended candidates; interviewing process and background screening; and finally, the appointment of a candidate.
According to the proposal packet, GovHR, as it was then known, has contracted with the cities of Indianola, Knoxville, Muscatine and Windsor Heights in Iowa for the hiring of the city administrator or city manager position between 2019 and 2023.
------
Contact Robert Maharry
at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or
rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.