A special meeting of the Peoria City Council has been called for Tuesday, March 18. Other than a proclamation, there is only one item of business on the agenda: choosing a new search firm to assist the city in selecting a permanent city manager.
Consideration of a MOTION to RESCIND Prior Action Authorizing the HIRING of PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ASSOCIATES LLC and EXECUTIVE SEARCH, INC. AND Consideration of CITY MANAGER SEARCH FIRMS’ PROPOSALS from FRONTIER PARTNERS, INC. and THE MERCER GROUP, with the Possibility of Taking Action to HIRE ONE OF THESE FIRMS, and Authorize the Interim City Manager or Mayor to Execute a CONTRACT with that Firm.
Ironically, on March 3, Councilman Nichting (5th Dist.) moved to hire City Manager Search Firms, The Mercer Group, Inc., and the motion was seconded by Councilman Spears (4th Dist.), but everyone else on the council wanted to hire the other firm, so Council Member Van Auken (2nd Dist.) made a substitute motion, which was approved 7-2 (Councilman Turner was absent).
Reportedly, upon the first meeting with the search firm, a majority of the council and the search firm felt that the relationship wasn’t going to work out, and so the search firm withdrew their offer. Here’s their letter of withdrawal:
Dear Mayor Ardis:
As you know, we submitted a proposal to assist the City of Peoria in the recruitment of a new City Manager on February 21, 2008.
We were honored and pleased when the City Council selected our firm for this task on March 2, 2008.
We quickly started preparations to fulfill our commitments to the duties as outlined in our proposal.
Yesterday it was a great pleasure to meet personally with you to discuss the fundamental aspects of our recruitment process before entering into binding commitments to fulfill the tasks. Thank you for your hospitality.
During the six-hour drive back to Oshkosh last evening, Denise and I discussed the advisability of proceeding. As you know, we have no employees and the three partners perform all of our work. With the Peoria project, we were hopeful that a local associate could perform much of the on-site tasks.
However, our local associate, while experienced in the private sector is unfamiliar with municipal government. It became clear that as such we would need to commit significantly more time and travel than we had anticipated fulfilling the duties associated with the Peoria project.
Given the commitments we have already made to other Wisconsin municipalities and counties, doing the Peoria project would be a very burdensome task. We therefore respectfully request that our proposal to assist the City of Peoria for the recruitment of a City Manager be withdrawn from further consideration.
We are letting you know of this request as soon as possible to minimize the delay in your proceeding on this vital, local task in the City of Peoria. We Wish you all the best, both in recruiting a new City Manager and all future endeavors in your city.
Sincerely,
William D. Frueh
Partner, Public Administration Associates
It’s interesting that one of the reasons Van Auken stated she liked Public Administration Associates better was because “the representative from Executive Search, Inc. was local,” according to the March 3 minutes. But it turns out, according to this withdrawal letter, that their local representative/associate was “unfamiliar with municipal government.” Anyone else find it odd that someone with the firm of Public Administration Associates is only familiar with the private sector? Sounds like that came as a surprise to the council; I can see why they might have been disappointed.
A special meeting was called instead of waiting until the next regular meeting so that the council won’t lose any more time finding a new city manager.
Hmmm….looks like a few members of the City Council didn’t do their homework (or check references). I quick google search shows that the firm they hired works principally in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And no one thought to check on the local point of contact???? Since they so strenuously pointed this out as a deciding factor, wouldn’t a couple of quick phone calls have been useful before committing to hire the firm.
Mercer and PAR are both nationally recognized experts in conducting City Manager searches. They have conducted thousands of searches. The best choice from the two remaining that they are considering is definately Mercer. Frontier doesn’t even come close to having the experience in conducting City Manager searches.
This town has a rotten reputation with recruiters in the past and after meeting this crew I am not surprised that their response was “thanks, but no thanks”. They knew where Peoria was located when they answered the call so this is all the usual smoke and mirrors. If they had an HR director they might just post it themselves and save taxpayers lots or money…oops,we don’t have one. Do not look for any big firms to answer the call unless the fee is tripled and some members muzzled.
It is a shame we can’t consult with a recruiting firm to ‘hire’ new city council members.
The Citt, for some reason,seems overly impressed with firms and people from outside the area. If there is a local firm that is suited to the task, let it be retained.
WE have a website don’t we? Just put in the qualifications for that position and post it saying pay is according to experience.And from the taxpayers experience do not give him everything plus the kitchen sink.Peoria should have our contract for the candidate to sign not the other way around.If Kay Royster applies tear it up,LOL.Why the hell is our city so intent on using outside firms? Is there no one persons judgement in the entire city worth a plug nickel? If that is the case then the citizens of this city need to send a clear message when we vote.
What about the great Henry Holling?
Hey, CW, why not just hang a “help wanted” sign on the front door. You never know when a qualified city manager might be out for a morning stroll.
How about we put an ad up on PeoriaHelpWanted.com?
“Long Name. Amazing Results” — looks like we’ll need it.
Everyone has good suggestions, however, you do not expect the council to do any real work, do you? There are government web sites and publications they could advertise the job in and the cost is minimal. How about a citizen’s committee of community leaders to choose the next manager? Too logical and makes too much sense. Why would we use our professional community to help choose our next manager, when they would not have let the last one go!
Timmy: I suggest you contact some of the council members and quiz them on the hours they spend on city business; many of these people(most)have jobs to work in and families to support as well as spending all the time they do for the city. Give credit where credit is due!!
I don’t have a problem with them hiring a search firm. They tried to get a search firm with a local connection, and that’s the one that withdrew. I think there is a lot of advantage to hiring a headhunting organization rather than just putting an ad out on the web. We want to get the best possible candidate for the city, not just the first warm body that e-mails their resume.
I think you hire these firms to get access to their Rolodex. These folks have decades of experience hiring folks, and I would guess have a pretty good idea of who in their system might be a good candidate.