Agenda Packets - 2008/08/11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7K Meeting Date: August 11, 2008 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: ___ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Clerk - Administrator Item Title/Subject: Continued Discussions Regarding Structure of Public Works Director Position Introduction: On Monday, July 28, 2008, a candidate was interviewed for the Public Works Director position. The candidate was clearly the top choice among the interviewers. Prior to extending an offer of employment conditioned upon satisfactory background and reference checks and Council authorization, we asked if the Council was interested in exploring an alternative form of employment for this position, namely, contracting out with an engineering firm for the Public Works Director position. Discussion: The reason staff brought this to your attention at your August 4th worksession was because the top candidate, while having decades of experience with one city, was actually in the employ of an engineering firm. The question was asked during the interview whether the candidate would accept the position if it meant severing his employment ties with the firm and a clear response was not provided at that point. Based on the Council’s reaction at the worksession, an offer of employment was extended to the candidate last week and he was asked to respond by today, August 11, 2008, so that the Council would have an opportunity to act on the potential resolution of hire. The candidate has since responded and declined the offer of employment but did submit a counter-proposal which is attached for your consideration. At this point, the Council needs to make a decision as to how to proceed. In my opinion, there are two general options. The City could choose to re-advertise a THIRD time for the position, however I’m not sure what would change from the first two postings that we would anticipate a qualified pool of applicants that would accept the wages being offered. The other option is that the City could choose to work with a consultant for an extended period of time. The latter option could simply be a continuation of Bonestroo’s role until after the compensation study has been completed or something more formal whereby Bonestroo provides staffing to the City on an interim basis. This option could also include asking engineering firms to submit a proposal to the City to provide public works director services on a contract basis for a defined (yet renewable) period of time. Finally, this option could also include accepting the candidate’s counter offer. In my opinion, I would not think re-advertising for the position would be practical. This leaves the City with a decision as to how to best utilize contract engineering services to satisfy its immediate needs.