Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20090330 - Manager Search APPROVED 5/5/2009 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING March 30, 2009 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met to discuss the Manager's search process on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie Foushee and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Mike Nelson, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. Opening Comments Chair Foushee suggested that the Board add two agenda items to the agenda; to give an update on the new county attorney, and Commissioner Jacobs said he would like to give them an update from TJCOG about broadband. The Board agreed to add these items. 2. Discussion of Manager's Search Process Chair Foushee said she spoke with our county attorney, Geof Gledhill, about retaining the firm we currently have now, The Mercer Group, for the county manager search. Geof Gledhill had told her that the Board did not have to go out to bid for a new firm; the Board could just amend their current contract with Mercer. Chair Foushee said she talked with Jim Mercer of the Mercer firm and that they do have principals from the Mercer firm in N.C. since that seemed to be the preference of the Commissioners this time around. The Board agreed that they would like to go with a firm. Commissioner Pelissier asked how many firms do national searches for managers and Chair Foushee said many firms do this. Commissioner Gordon said for clarification purposes that their choices are to go with an RFP or go with a firm that they use now. It was answered yes. Commissioner Gordon suggested the Board consider an RFP process. Since they will also need an interim manager, how does this fit into the process. Commissioner Jacobs asked if NCACC would help find a permanent manager and Chair Foushee said they could but it would stretch their resources if we wanted a nationwide search. Chair Foushee said NCACC would get us some names for an interim manager in the next couple of days. Commissioner Hemminger said time is of the essence and we have had good experiences with the Mercer group. And we want candidates with N.C. experience. Chair Foushee agreed and she has worked with the Mercer group when she worked for Chapel Hill as well as here in Orange County. Commissioner Pelissier asked if an RFP was done with the last manager and Board members replied yes. Commissioner Jacobs said the advantage of having a different firm do the search is that that the Board could have access to a different pool of applicants. His hesitation with Mercer is concern about not getting a different pool of applicants this time. Commissioner Pelissier suggested the Board ask Mercer to expand their pool of applicants this time around and Chair Foushee said they could ask for a clean pool of applicants. Commissioner Yuhasz asked how long did the RFP process take and Board members responded about two months. Commissioner Jacobs said after that, the Board worked with the consultant Commissioner Nelson arrived at 7:15 PM . Commissioner Yuhasz said adding another 60-90 days to the process if the Board uses an RFP process to select a consultant will be not be helpful unless there are issues with the Mercer group now. Commissioner Hemminger said that Laura Blackmon will be leaving June 301h Commissioner Gordon said the Commissioners need to consider when the Board wants this person to start. Commissioners may want an interim manager to start with. Do they want overlap time with the present manager? Commissioner Pelissier said the Board doesn't know what they will face with budget issues with the next year, and it will behoove the commissioners to get a manager in place by the end of the year and to forget about the RFP and go with a firm as soon as possible. Commissioner Hemminger said not to do an RFP. Commissioner Jacobs said the Board should stick with the Mercer group and be explicit as to the pool of applicants they want to see. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to hire the Mercer group to do the search and request a local N.C. representative from their firm and to also ask The Mercer Group to exclude any applicants from the previous search. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Yuhasz said he would like to see what the Mercer group would suggest as to what was advertised before from a professional standpoint. Commissioner Gordon said to emphasize the essence of what they are looking for; she would like the firm to interview the Board of County Commissioners individually. And for the Board members to be clear as to what they want in a manager. Commissioner Jacobs suggested scheduling a conversation with the consultant as to what the Board is looking for in an ad brochure. He suggested the Board of County Commissioners write their thoughts down for Mercer. The Board suggested scheduling a meeting with The Mercer Group in April. Interim Process for Manager Commissioner Gordon said the Board needs to figure out when an interim manager would start and to make it clear to the interim whether this person could apply for the permanent position. Also make it clear if the Board of County Commissioners wants this person to overlap with the current manager, and his/her flexibility in terms of starting and ending times. Commissioner Jacobs asked why not also consider a person who applies for the permanent position. Chair Foushee said she believes that person would have an unfair advantage. Commissioner Jacobs said but what if they are good and they like this interim person. Chair Foushee said then why would they bother interviewing others. Michael McGinnis, Director of Human Resources, said it ceases to be a competitive process then and if they bring an interim person in, it does change the rules of the open and competitive process. Commissioner Gordon said she thought they would get a retired person and thought it would be from a different pool of people than the applicants for the permanent position. Commissioner Jacobs said he talked with officials from Moore County and they had hired a retired person on an interim basis; and the county liked him so much they hired him permanently. He said automatically excluding someone because this person was an interim is not fair. Chair Foushee said this is something they need to decide. Commissioner Nelson said the Board should hire an interim that is not allowed to apply and is not interested in the permanent position; but if they find out in 3 months they like this person, he would be willing to re-consider. Commissioner Yuhasz agreed. The Board agreed with this aspect. Also, the Board agreed that they would like a person, both for the interim and the permanent manager position, with N.C. experience. The Board agreed that they would like for an interim person to start on July 1 and Commissioner Yuhasz said June 1 would be even better with overlap time with the exiting manager and the interim manager. The Board agreed that an interim person needs to start as early as June 15 but no later than July 1. Commissioner Gordon said the Board had mentioned that they would not consider someone who had been in the previous pool of applicants for the county manager's position three years ago but what if there were really good applicants that had been further down in the pool, can they then look at them and the Board agreed to keep their options open. Chair Foushee said how do they want to go about identifying an interim manager. Commissioner Gordon said we usually would go to a county commissioner organization; either a private firm or the NCACC. Commissioner Jacobs said he would rather use NCACC because they would not charge for their services and he would like for them to present 3 candidates for the Board of County Commissioners to interview, with no extensive process or interviews. Commissioner Gordon said she would like to interview the interim candidates. Michael McGinnis said there should be a good pool of interim candidates at this time. Commissioner Gordon asked what does the NCACC offer. Chair Foushee said they would work for the Board of County Commissioners and send applications to the Board. The Board of County Commissioners would then initiate contact with the candidates. Chair Foushee suggested interviewing three candidates at a time; and if the first batch does not work out, then as for three more candidates. Commissioner Gordon said if the NCACC does not work out, then the county could always hire a private firm. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about talking with Mercer about fees, etc. Chair Foushee suggested that the Board may want to piggyback on the current contract with amendments. COUNTY ATTORNEY UPDATE Chair Foushee said she spoke with Mr. Roberts today and we have a signed MOA and they are able to move forward with the appointment on April 7th or 21st. Mr. Roberts indicated he can start on April 23rd The Board of County Commissioners will host an in house reception for Mr. Roberts, and also Geof Gledhill who is retiring, on April 14th at the Link Government Services Center from 6-7pm. BROADBAND UPDATE Commissioner Jacobs said he and Commissioner Hemminger were at the TJCOG meeting last week. There was a presentation on broadband access and the stimulus bill. Mr. Sepe told them Orange County and Chatham County were in a good position to get monies for broadband. Mr. Sepe said Orange County would be in a much better position if they had a plan and Mr. Sepe offered to assist. Commissioner Jacobs asked could staff be ready to draw up a plan to be ready in the fall when the monies come down Commissioner Jacobs said there could be list of competitors—and if state is distributing the money, then to have staff contact Mr. Sepe to help them draft a letter to get the federal money go directly to the county rather than the go through the state. Commissioner Gordon suggested having staff contact Mr. Sepe to help them draft the letter re: broadband stimulus money. Chair Foushee said they could discuss this at chair and vice chair and the Board agreed for them to move forward. 3. Adjourn A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs seconded by Commissioner Nelson to adjourn the meeting at 7:49 pm. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board