Agenda - Council - 02/13/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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0 City Council only (Larry Bakken) Mr. Bakken asked the Council what important characteristics they would like to see in a new administrator. They responded as follows: team builder; strong public communicator /good relationship with the public; a leader who is a visionary but who also has the ability to empower people to get things done; experience guiding a growing community; experience working with all levels of government; responsibility to the Council —open, honest, ability to communicate the negative, as well as the positive so the Council can debate the facts... transparency. The Mayor advised the Council that the Charter Commission had app_ roved the amendment that would change the City's form of government to council - manager beginning in 2011. Mr. Bakken explained that the primary difference between a manager and city administrator is that the city manager has hire and fire authority. He further advised the council that at some point a decision would need to be made regarding whether the city, attorney works for the City Council or the. city manager. Currently, the city attorney works for the City Council. There was some discussion regarding whether the City would need to re- recruit if a city administrator is hired and the form of government changes to council - manager. Mr. Bakken responded that the Council could simply let the candidates know early in the recruitment process that the form of government would be changing in 2011. In discussing how the City Council would select a search firm, several councilmembers stated that they want more than a "database" search. Councilmembers are also looking for a process that assesses candidates' management styles by using 360 degree reference checks, success stories, psychological evaluations, oral presentations , and/or situational questions. Councilmember Jeffrey indicated that he would like to speak with cities that have recently conducted searches to find out what worked and what didn't work with their recruitment process. Councilmember Look asked whether it was an option to look at backgrounds other than public administration, and the response was "yes ". Ramsey Town Center Update (Brian Olson, Bill Goodrich, Jim Lasher) Public Works Director Brian Olson reviewed the terms of the master development agreement and the first amendment with Ramsey Town Center, LLC (RTC) for the 300 acre development project. City Attorney Bill Goodrich and Jim Lasher of LSA Design provided information regarding the current status of RTC LLC. • The City anticipates that a financial restructuring action will occur in the upcoming months. City staff has been approached by interested parties to begin negotiating a new development agreement or an amendment to the existing development agreement. Given the uncertainty regarding the status of the land and financial obligations of the developer, staff is seeking direction from Council regarding proposed changes to the development or to the development • City Council / January 19, 2007 Page 2 of 3 —184—