HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-01-15 Council Minutes - Work SessionKENAI CITY COUNCIL
WORK
O SESSION
JANUARY 15, 2001
7:00 P.M.
KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
MAYOR JOHN J. WILLIAMS, PRESIDING
Council present: Williams, Bookey, Frazer, Swarner, Porter, Bannock and
Moore
Staff present: Freas, Ross, Graves and Semmens
Several items were discussed prior to discussing the city manager search. Those
items were:
• Juvenile Detention Facility -- Ross reported the Governor did not include
the facility in the administrative budget but requested his department to lobby for it.
Senator Torgerson requested the Senate Finance Committee to put the facility in the
budget. Representative Chenault stated he would work on it in the House. Torgerson
and Chenault's assessment was the issue was not capital monies, but the annual
operating costs. He added, Chenault told him he believed the facility would be
included, but not for construction until next year.
• KRSMA Plan -- Ross noted the latest Board meeting minutes reflected
comments he made during the last meeting. He explained, he received a call from the
Director of State Parks asking whether he would put the KRSMA Plan before council
for adoption and he told him no because the elements in the Plan as they applied to
the city could be reviewed while updating the Comprehensive Plan. Ross added,
KRSMA Board understands. He added, Lancaster may come to council as a
Representative to make the same request. Ross noted, Lancaster wants more area
included into the KRSMA Plan, however most of the Plan doesn't affect the city.
Ross was asked if the city's timing for reviewing the Plan would impact State Parks in
relation to the Birch Island project and he answered no. He added, the Board is aware
of the Birch Island project and has no problem with it. Ross also reported the Board
heard several presentations on the bluff project and were very supportive of the city's
efforts.
• Bluff Project Funding Contact -- Frazer asked if Ross spoke with the
Department of Agriculture contact he had recently made. Ross noted, Kornelis made
some contacts and would be attending a meeting in Anchorage on January 19 in this
regard.
CITY MANAGER SEARCH
Ross referred council to the information packet. Comments and discussion brought
forward the following comments and directives:
• During the previous search, council set the criteria, and administration
screened and sorted the applications. However, council had the ability of looking at all
the applications and adding an application to those that met the criteria.
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
JANUARY 15, 2001
PAGE 2
• During a previous search, the position was advertised in some outside
publications which brought in a large number of applications. Administration
suggested advertising in the ICMA and AML newsletters, the Peninsula Clarion, and
the Anchorage Daily News.
• Change Attachments B and D to reflect the same title for Kim Howard.
• Change "seeking" in second line of Attachment B to "seeks."
• The ICMA and AML advertisements refer applicants to the city's web
page.
• Attachment "C" -- "Qualifications":
-- First paragraph, remove first sentence, "The next City Manager should
be experienced with the rewards and difficulties of managing a full -
service city."
-- First paragraph, second sentence, strike "small or medium-sized
community." The sentence would read, "The ideal candidate will have at
least seven years of responsible management experience with extensive
personnel, budgetary, leadership, and communication skills."
-- Second paragraph, first sentence, strike "minimum" and strike
"required" at end of sentence and add "preferred." Sentence would now
read, "A bachelor's degree in business, public administration, or a related
field is preferred."
• Change scoring procedure -- wait until screened and reviewed
applications are whittled down to a manageable number and then do a
one -to -five scoring criteria.
• During interviews, have a set of questions to ask each applicant and
have a period of time at end of interview to ask other questions as well.
• Council should agree before thinning out the applications, what the
scoring criteria will be.
• Advertisement -- population information, strike "approximately" and add
J
"over" 7,000.
• Schedule okay.
• Advertising -- Peninsula Clarion -- 12 days; Anchorage Daily News -- 14
days; check cost and advertising timeline for Alaska Business Monthly.
• Another work session will be scheduled to determine the scoring system.
Williams to bring samples of other systems he's recently used.
• Attachment "D" -- Delete paragraph numbered 2.
• From references, make contacts to not only most recent employer, but
one or two previous to that one. Using references, find out who worked
with the applicant, previous council people, etc. through telephone
inquiries. Consider sending "head hunter" to communities for the top
two or three applicants.
Council was requested to think about whether they need someone who has just
government experience and what type of manager style they want before interviews.
Some comments were: "Stick to how council wants the city to evolve and worry about
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JANUARY 15, 2001
PAGE 3
the manager's style later; find someone with criteria to run the city as it is now and
then other items are a plus; look at the structure of the organization and determine
what is most important, etc.
Council agreed with the information through Attachment D and authorized Ross to
proceed. Scoring criteria will be decided at a later date.
Notes prepared by:
Carol L. Freas, City Clerk