City auditor and clerk indicates firms to get 14 days to submit responses to Request for Proposals
It took slightly less than 10 minutes on July 21 for the members of the Sarasota City Commission to tweak materials that will be provided to the three firms from whom they agreed earlier this month to seek Requests for Proposals in their effort to employ a new city manager.
City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs noted the materials included in their agenda packet for their regular meeting on July 21, including a summary of questions they want the firms to answer and attributes that they indicated they want in the next city manager.
“We just want your blessing that [the details] accurately reflect the record,” City Attorney Joe Polzak told the commissioners. “These are culled from the record …”
On July 7, the commissioners agreed to ask Griggs and Polzak to send the Requests for Proposals to Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Ga.; Sumter Local Government Consulting of Atlanta; and MGT Impact Solutions of Tampa.
In May, the board members appointed Griggs and Polzak to lead the search effort, instead of having the city’s Human Resources Department continue to do so. Their goal, they stressed, is to provide as much transparency as possible to the public as the process goes forward.
Polzak did note during the July 21 meeting that he and Griggs plan to have the city’s Procurement staff prepare the materials that will be sent to the three firms identified on July 7, even though the search initiative is exempt from Florida procurement laws.
When Vice Mayor Debbie Trice asked whether Griggs and Polzak needed additional guidance from the commissioners at that time, Polzak replied, “No.” They simply were seeking any revisions the commissioners felt were needed in the materials.
Then Trice asked, “What kind of timeframe are we giving the firms [for their responses]?”
Polzak told her they felt the range should be between two weeks and 30 days.
“We kind of felt that 30 days is way too long,” Griggs added; 14 days seems adequate.
“Fourteen days sounds reasonable to me,” Trice responded.
“This is what they do,” Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich added of the firms. “They don’t need 30 days to do it,” she said with a laugh.
The commissioners then discussed modifications to the questions for the firms, pairing some of those that were related so as to reduce the overall number.
They did agree that Nos. 5 and 6 could be combined. No. 5 asked, “How many pending searches would be ongoing at the same time?” while No. 6 inquired, “How many searches can your company conduct at one time?”
Further, Ohlrich noted a section of the materials in which Griggs and Polzak had provided checkmarks to show which commissioners had pointed to specific criteria for city manager candidates.
Although only she and Vice Mayor Trice had cited membership in the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Ohlrich added, “It’s important to me because of [the organization’s] professional resources, their continuing education opportunities and their code of ethics.”
She noted that all five of the board members had cited “high ethical standards and integrity” as attributes they want to see in the new city manager. “ICMA provides a vehicle for evaluating integrity and ethics … when it’s appropriate,” she pointed out. “I would urge the rest of you to add that to your checklist.”
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch reminded her colleagues that some potential candidates for the Sarasota position might not be city managers.
Therefore, Ohlrich suggested that ICMA membership be required of the new city manager if the individual does not already hold such a membership.
Further, Ahearn-Koch noted that Ohlrich had specified that candidates should have a “[m]inimum of 5-7 years of progressive responsible experience in municipal management or related experience.”
Ahearn-Koch asked her colleagues whether they felt it is necessary to specify a number. Shouldn’t they just ask for details about such experience?
This reporter heard Mayor Liz Alpert, Trice and Ohlrich agree with Ahearn-Koch on that point.
After the discussion, Trice thanked Griggs and Polzak. “The structure you have provided us has been very helpful,” Trice told them.
“Agreed,” Ahearn-Koch said.
No motion was necessary on their comments, Polzak noted; their consensus on the points they had discussed was sufficient.