Norfolk Daily News

Friday – February 1, 2008

Candidate wants next elected mayor, council to make decision

It’s been 28 years since Norfolk last had to hire a new city administrator.

So just how do the mayor and city council go about finding a replacement for Mike Nolan, who’s leaving at the end of April?

The Norfolk city attorney has offered some advice. A look at what Grand Island, Columbus, Fremont and Kearney have done to fill their top city job also is instructive.

Clint Schukei, Norfolk city attorney, was asked by Councilman Dale Coy to address the issue.
“Simply stated, the state statutes and the city code are straightforward about the actual appointment of a city administrator. . . . The process that is actually utilized is pretty much left to the mayor to craft,’’ Schukei wrote.

After interviews with applicants are done and finalists chosen, the individual nominated by the mayor must be approved by a majority of the council. The mayor can break a tie.

Mayor Gordon Adams has indicated the process will proceed with a discussion at the next finance committee meeting, which is slated for Monday morning.

A variety of ideas are likely to be expressed.

For instance, Sue Fuchtman, a mayoral candidate, already has asked Adams, who isn’t running again, to let the next elected mayor and council be responsible for the appointment process. But Fuchtman also has said that she will respect whatever approach Adams decides to take.

Adams initially suggested he’d include on the search committee the four council members not up for re-election in 2008 along with mayoral candidates Fuchtman and Tom Schommer plus two other Norfolkans.

Exactly who will be on the committee, the process and the timing of picking finalists and making an appointment are all up for discussion.

Sheila Schukei, Norfolk human resources director, has collected information on how Fremont, Grand Island, Columbus and Kearney have handled the job when they’ve had to hire administrators.

There were two recurring comments from human resources directors in those cities, she said.

One was the importance of maintaining confidentiality by those having access to and reviewing the applications, personnel records and background investigation of the applicants. But once finalists are chosen, the names of the candidates become public information, according to state law.

The other comment from other Nebraska cities was for council representatives to keep in mind that the “candidates will be interviewing your city just as you are interviewing them.”

Here’s what was reported by the other cities:

Fremont
City staff advertised and received applications.

A selection committee was made up of the mayor, council president, one other council member with the most years of experience and one citizen.

City staff organized the applicants into groups of whether they met the minimum requirements related to experience and education. Those who met minimum requirements were sent an additional questionnaire.

The selection committee reviewed the applications and responses to questionnaires and selected five candidates (two eventually withdrew).

The selection committee, along with the city’s administrative services director, interviewed the finalists privately.

After the interview, each candidate had lunch with the committee. Later in the afternoon, the candidate had an opportunity to meet with a couple of council members at a time in an informal setting.

After all the reviews, the mayor made the recommendation of the candidate and the council approved.

Grand Island
Hired a consultant.

Consultant presented to the human resources director approximately 12 candidates.

Further background checks were done by the human resources director and that information was provided to the mayor.

The mayor then selected three candidates.

One applicant withdrew.

The two candidates were interviewed by the mayor and council in public session.

After the public interviews, the mayor received input from the council and two community members who participated in the interviews.

The decision was made to continue the search.

The consultant continued the search and provided the mayor with additional candidates.

The mayor selected two candidates for final interviews.

The two candidates were interviewed by the mayor and council in public session.

After the public interviews, the mayor received input from the council and the two community members who participated in the interviews.

The mayor made the recommendation of the finalist and council approved.

Columbus
City staff advertised and received applications.

Mayor and human resources director screened all the applications and selected 10 candidates.

Mayor and council president met and selected six from the group of 10.

Mayor and human resources director conducted phone interview of those six.

Mayor and council chair reviewed phone interview information and narrowed to three finalists for the public interviews.

Department heads had lunch with all three candidates.

Throughout the afternoon, council and department staff had an opportunity to meet with each candidate.
Later that same evening, the three finalists were interviewed in public session. The mayor and city council members — as well as anyone from the public — asked questions.

After all the reviews, the mayor made the recommendation and council approved.

Kearney
A consultant was hired.

The consultant presented five names to the mayor.

Two interview teams were set up. One team consisted of the mayor, two elected officials, two city staff and two citizens. The other group consisted of three elected officials, one city staff and two citizens. The interview process was public.

After the interview process, the mayor discussed all the information with the consultant.

The mayor’s recommendation was brought to the council for approval.