City Council Minutes 2007 05-31-07 Special Meeting MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE. KENDALL COUNTY. ILLINOIS,
HELD IN THE CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM,
800 GAME FARM ROAD ON
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2007.
Mayor Burd called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M and led the Council in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
l � Clerk Milschewski called the roll.
Ward I Leslie Present
Werderich Present
Ward 11 Golinski Present
Plocher Present
Ward III Munns Present
Sutcliff Present
Ward IV Besco Absent
Spears Present
Also present: City Clerk Milschewski, City Treasurer Powell, Interim City Administrator Olson
and Human Resource Manager Kasper and Public Relations Officer Spies.
QUORUM
A quorum was established.
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS
Mayor Burd asked the staff and guests to introduce themselves. She welcomed the guests and
asked them to enter their names on the attendance sheet provided.
MAYOR'S REPORT
Discussion of City Administrator Recruitment
Mayor Burd reported that this meeting was to meet with McGrath Consulting Group, Inc. to
discuss the Council's vision for a City Administrator. She turned the meeting over to the
McGrath's.
Dr. Victoria McGrath (Chief Executive Officer) introduced herself and Dr. Tim McGrath,
(President). She explained that they have been working with the City on the hiring of a new City
Administrator. She gave an update of what they have done so far; they have met with the Mayor,
Assistant City Administrator and Human Resource Manager where together they developed a
generic list of qualifications and skills that traditionally go into an advertisement. The ad has
been placed in five different publications and websites and as a result twenty -eight applications
have been received, ten of which are very good. They also developed a recruitment profile that
Will go out to all the candidates. Dr. V. McGrath explained that she has taken all the resumes and
has condensed them into a recruitment profile containing information such as the applicants
name, education, previous employment, etc. which the screening committee can use. She will be
dividing the applicants into three categories; meets qualifications, meets some of the
qualifications and doesn't meet any of the qualifications. She stated that today they would like to
get input from the City Council to help screen the applications down. She turned the floor over to
Dr. Tim McGrath who clarified that the summary sheet that will be given to the City Council is
so that quick references can be made. He noted that the candidate's resumes are available for
review at any time.
Dr T. McGrath explained that Dr. V. McGrath compiles the screening sheets and then gives him
the resumes. He then he works with both the summary and resumes. They place a code on each
resume and then they sit down and discuss the candidates. He also gave information on
assessment center testing which he has been doing to twenty -eight years.
Dr. T. McGrath posed several questions to the City Council:
1. What skills and qualifications is the City Council looking for in a City Administrator?
• Leslie —good judgment and the ability to work well with others.
• Munns —no- nonsense leader that includes input from department heads but then makes a
decision, a good communicator. He preferred a candidate with experience, education and
no political ties.
• Spears —an honest and positive candidate who would work well with the staff.
• Werderich —a facilitator, a good communicator and someone with a vested interest in
making things work.
The Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Citv Council — Mav 31, 2007 — nagL2
o Golinski —A non - partisan candidate, who would be accountable, professional,
experienced in finance, budgeting, personnel, etc., a good communicator and has a good
temperament. He also indicated he would prefer seeing a candidate without ties to the
City and that is from outside the area.
o Sutcliff— an independent leader, good communicator with both staff and the City Council
and a positive personality.
o Plocher — someone new in career, a "go getter ".
Other items discussed in regards to this question were; personality assessments, gender of the
candidates, the non - diversity of the pool of candidates, etc.
2. Would the City Council prefer a candidate with experience as an administrator or as an
assistant administrator?
• Leslie — preferred someone with previous administrator experience
• Werderich — he didn't have a preference.
• Spears - open to an assistant administrator
• Golinski — preferred someone with previous experience and not an assistant moving up
• Sutcliff — thought an assistant from a larger municipality could be qualified.
• Munns — did not want a "re- tread"
The City Council also discussed Yorkville's ability to attract an experienced administrator.
3. What type of management style does the City Council want?
• Plocher — no input
• Spears — no micro- manager, open management style
• Sutcliff— no input — not experienced in management styles
• Werderich — strong manager, a leader, a communicator
• Golinski — strong, open - minded, participatory
o Leslie — dedicated, empathetic and strong
• Munn — visionary, participatory
4. What type of communication style?
• Burd — someone who understands what government is about; that the aldermen are the
decision makers
• Munns — open, someone who understands who the client is (treats the City Council as
their customer)
• Leslie — open, empathetic, mentoring
• Golinski — effective communicator, researcher
• Werderich — facilitator, mediator, someone able to blend info
• Sutcliff— balanced communicator, not over controlling
• Spears — someone who understands each department and department head
• Plocher — someone who can be looked up but also understands he works for the City
Council and the residents
5. What are some of the challenges that Yorkville is facing?
• Leslie — quality growth for both residential and commercial
• Sutcliff— developments that help the local economy by using local people
• Golinski — maintaining the City's "small town" charm
• Powell — intuitive understanding of financial responsibilities
• Spears — Return to original standards; large lot sizes, follow Comprehensive Plan
• Leslie — border relations, stress on school, community development for young starter
families and seniors
• Burd — Redevelopment of downtown
• Plocher — transportation issues, road quality and traffic
• Werderich — turn over in administration
• Munn — revitalization of downtown, youth population
Also discussed was the "team" of departments and department heads, knowledge of water,
infrastructure, utilities, tipping point between residential and commercial, individual with vision,
etc.
The Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Citv Council — Mav 31, 2007 — pag
6. In one to three words, the number one thing I want in a new administrator is......
• Munns — leadership
• Leslie — assertive decisiveness
• Golinski — accountable leadership
• Werderich — facilitator
• Sutcliff— visionary facilitator
• Spears — honest individual
J
• Plocher — transition person
The McGrath's opened the floor for questions from the City Council.
Alderman Sutcliff questioned the time line for hiring. Dr. V. McGrath explained she was trying
to establish a meeting of the screening committee on either June 11 ffi or June 14, 2007. After that
meeting, she would recommend a thirty minute screening interview to narrow the candidates.
Out -of -state candidates will be screened by via conference call. Two to three weeks after that
will be the assessment center. She indicated that it would take four to six weeks to accomplish all
the tasks. After that time, it depends on the number of finalists. They then recommend that the
family of the candidates be brought in to see the community and meet the screening committee.
They also recommend a site visit to were the candidate is currently employed.
Alderman Sutcliff asked if applications were still being taken and Dr. T. McGrath indicated that
the ad is phrased to indicate that the first screening is until the end of today. However, he
indicated that as applications continue to come in, they will be assessed.
There was some discussion regarding the advertisement and how it reads.
Alderman Munns asked what date is the deadline for someone in place. Dr. V. McGrath
indicated that it was not the McGrath's decision and this depended on the City Council. She
estimated that if everything goes smoothly, the new administrator could be in place by August or
September.
Alderman Golinski asked what the nest step was. Dr. V. McGrath explained that it was the
meeting of the screening committee which consists of Munns, Spears, Golinski, Werderich and
Burd. She asked the members to meet with her after this meeting to confirm the date and time.
She further explained that the members will receive a packet of information and the meeting will
be held in closed session. Other aldermen can attend but not participate in the process.
Dr. V. McGrath stated that the assessment center process will be discussed with the screening
committee. She explained there is "down time" in this process and at that time the other City
Council members can have discussions with the screening committee.
Alderman Leslie asked if the candidates will be subjected to a psychological battery. Dr. V.
McGrath stated they did not. Alderman Leslie asked if this was legal to do and Dr. V. McGrath
indicated that it can be done once an offer has been made. Human Resource Manger Kasper
indicated that no other employees have gone through a test.
There was no further discussion.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Burd entertained a motion to adjourn. So moved by Alderman Leslie; seconded by
Alderman Spears.
Motion approved by a viva voce vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:10 P.M.
Minutes submitted by:
Jacquelyn Milschewski,
City Clerk City of Yorkville, Illinois
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
May 31, 2007
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