Minutes - Council Work Session - 02/15/2022 - Special

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City Administrator Ulrich added that he thinks this is a good job to consider recruitment for. He noted that both firms offer an additional search if the candidate is not successful. He also felt that it increased the probability of finding a candidate that is to the liking of the Council and will be someone that will stay with the City for quite a while. He felt hiring a consulting firm would be a good investment as they would be more objective, give good advice as to who would be a good candidate, and help with hiring someone in a timely manner. Councilmember Riley asked how would this get a bigger, broader pool of candidates. He wanted to ensure to find as many qualified candidates as possible. Administrative Services Director Lasher replied that in the proposal it states that they develop the position profile, they recruit through advertisement and direct contact. She assumed that the firms that do this frequently have a list of familiar candidates that they can reach out to, something she would not have the capacity to do. Councilmember Woestehoff commented that is seems that from a job market standpoint, that a position like this doesn’t come up very often and asked if the market was known for this, and if there are a couple of openings or several. Administrative Services Director Lasher replied she is aware that there are several cities including New Hope and Robbinsdale. City Administrator Ulrich added that it has been a more dynamic job market lately so similar cities such as White Bear Lake who just filled a position are in the same situation as Ramsey, there has been quite a bit of movement recently. Councilmember Woestehoff commented that he believed working with an agency would be a smart move for this task because the role is different. He added it is more difficult to hire a boss and stay objective about it. He added a third-party resource is well versed in this and had a broader audience. Mayor Kuzma commented that finding someone who will work well with the Council and also has a feel for the needs of the City would be more easily handled by someone else. He agreed with outsourcing. Councilmember Specht commented that it wouldn’t hurt to see what could be found themselves and if a good pool of applicants couldn’t be found then going to this step of going through a firm. He stated he was happy with the hiring of Brian Hagen. Mayor Kuzma replied his concern would be the timeline with May coming up fast. He didn’t think there would time to try both approaches. Councilmember Heineman asked what control would the Council have if recruitment was outsourced as far as the requirements, where the applicants are coming from. He didn’t want to outsource the control over the type of candidates that are found. He didn’t want an applicant eliminated because the agency has control over the Council. He asked if they could set certain City Council Special Work Session / February 15, 2022 Page 2 of 31