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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/07/1996 City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 7, 1996 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 7th day of November, 1996 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Bill Longo, Councilmember Present Mary Watts, Councilmember Present David Stanwick, Councilmember Present Wilma Avey, Councilmember Present John Dillard, Couneilmember Absent (Business) Dave Kovatch, Councilmember Present and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE PROCESS FOR SELECTION OF A NEW CITY MANAGER Mayor Manning introduced Dr. Paul Geisel, professor at the School of Urban Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Geisel gave the council a brief history of his program, stating his team has been involved in recruiting a city manager for 22 cities, including The Colony. He advised there are two ways to go about finding a new city manager - direct recruiting and open advertising. Dr. Geisel said the first step will be to meet with the council and staff to establish what the city wants in a city manager. A member of his staff will meet with each councilmember individually and go over a series of questions regarding 10 areas of government. Dr. Oeisel will meet with each Department Director and discuss with them what they would like to see. After those interviews Dr. Geisel will then meet with the Council in a series of work sessions to come to a consensus on a profile for a new city manager. He said The Colony does have an image problem to overcome fight now and because of that he will probably have to do more direct calling to try to sell The Colony to persons he thinks may be interested and good for the city. Dr. Oeisel explained that his policy is for the candidates not to contact the council. All communication will be with him. He will communicate with the Mayor and/or the City Secretary, depending on how the council wants it handled. He said if an individual councilmember has a question for him, he does not mind being contacted directly by them. He continued, explaining the process as follows: 1. Advertise in several publications 2. Interviews with Council and Department Directors 3. Meet with Council in work sessions ' 4. Receive and review applications 5. Interview candidates 6. Negotiate agreement 2 0062 Councilman Stanwick asked how he would handle the "image" problem. Dr. Geisel said a consensus of council is a must. He also stated that even if members of the council don't like each other, they must have the same dream for the city. He said if they cannot come to a consensus on what is needed then it will be difficult to bring someone in. Going on, Dr. Geisel said the role of the city council and the city manager must be clearly defined. He said in lots of cities the city council tries to do the manager's job and, in some cases, the manager tries to do the council's job. He said that will not work. Councilman Longo said he thought that one year severance was standard, but now he has found that six months is standard. Dr. Geisel said both are very common, but noted that the higher the turn over in a city, the higher the severance will be. Councilman Watts asked if he recommends advertising out of state and he said yes. Dr. Geisel said if a city can afford to use a professional consultant fu-m, then they should do so. He said his team is not in this for profit, but as a service to cities. He said even if we do go with a professional finn, he will still help in any way he can. Dr. Geisel told the council that they will have to sell this community to the prospective candidates. He estimated his cost to be $8000.00 and then we will have the actual cost of the interviews; i.e. travel, hotel, meals, etc. Mayor Manning thanked Dr. Geisel and excused him from the meeting. The Mayor then asked the council how they wish to proceed. Councilman Watts said it was Dr. Geisel's recommendation to go with a professional consultant f'unn if we can afford it. Brief discussion followed regarding going out for proposals. Ms. Hicks noted that would add about a month to the whole process. She advised the council that when Mr. Smith was hired, the process began in December and Mr. Smith was not hired and on board until April. Councilman Kovatch said he sees no reason to go with a firm that costs so much more when Dr. Geisel's team seems to be satisfactory. The rest of the council indicated they would be satisfied with Dr. Geisel. Councilman Watts said if that is the consensus of council then she would agree to use Dr. Geisel. Mayor Manning directed the City Secretary to contact Dr. Geisel on November 8 and ask him to call the Mayor. He also directed that an item be placed on the November 18 agenda to approve Dr. Geisel's proposal. With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m. A~OVED: /~ ATTEST: Wi' ~ W. Manni~g, ~ayor ~ Patti A. Hicks, TRMC, City Secretary 3