Three finalists selected for city administrator interviews
Like a team owner who relies on talent scouts to recommend just the right players for the pending NFL draft, the Hillsboro City Council pinned its hopes on a paid consultant to find just the right candidates to play starting quarterback as the city's new administrator.
Of the candidates who applied for the post, the consultant identified 29 who could clearly play the position; but then he cut his roster down to the top 10 prospects who could help the city win under their leadership.
Council members met in executive session with the consultant this past Friday to review his list, from which three top prospects were chosen to be interviewed April 21 at City Hall.
According to a happy Hillsboro Mayor Delores Dalke, based on the strength of their resumes, any one of the three finalists have the requisite skills and experience to be first-round draft choices for the city.
"It's a wonderful situation to be in," said Dalke, who added that if all goes according to the game plan, the new administrator will be chosen from these three, and then will be brought back April 28, to meet with city employees and members of the business community.
"We will invite them back for a second interview, and have them meet with some key people," Dalke said. "Our department heads and some people from the economic development group, because they will have to work together so closely.
"Whoever takes the position needs to have an opportunity to check out the people that he would be working with on a regular basis. These people need to have a degree of comfort with our community as well. They need to be able to know that we'll be a fit for them, too."
Provided the contract details can be worked out in time, the city will publicly name the new administrator by the end of April. But his start date in Hillsboro will depend upon his severance agreement with the city from which he comes, Dalke said, adding that it could be anywhere from two weeks to a month, or more.
The search for a city administrator became necessary on Jan. 24 after the council voted 4-0 to terminate the contract of former city administrator, Steve Garrett. Garrett spent six years on the job, but was let go after a series of unsatisfactory job reviews.
The job description for the new administrator was written with input from city council members about specific attributes they wanted the next city administrator to possess.
That's why Dalke asked the city's two out-going council members, Matt Hiebert and Len Coryea, to continue in the interview process.
"I've asked the council people going off and the new people coming on to be part of it, because it makes sense for the former council people to ask the questions based on their experience," Dalke said. "And this will give the new council members a chance to be involved with the new administrator from the start."
Like picking a pope, the entire process is taking place behind closed doors, Dalke added, because most of the candidates have not disclosed to their present cities that they are looking for other jobs.
"Obviously, it would be better [to keep names confidential] for their relationships at their cities, should they not be the one that is chosen," Dalke said. "We wouldn't want our current employer to know."
Dalke did disclose that the three finalists all serve as administrators at cities larger than Hillsboro; and from Kansas or a bordering state.
While it will be prudent to find out exactly why someone wants to leave a larger city, Dalke says it makes sense to her that someone would think of running Hillsboro as a better job, regardless of its population.
"I feel that it's a compliment to Hillsboro that someone would want to leave a community larger than we are and come here," she said.
"Hillsboro has as very good reputation around the state. We're well known for our economic development efforts. We also have a reputation for being a good, solid community, with our college and our good school system."
Neither the mayor nor the city council had the time or expertise to conduct such an important search on their own, nor do any of them wanted a repeat of the calamity that occurred the last time the city council tried to hire an administrator on its own.
Instead, the council enlisted the support of consultant Mark Tomb of the League of Kansas Municipalities' Executive Administrative Position Search (LEAPS) program.
According to the mayor, the $4,000 consulting fee has been well worth it.
"The last time we tried to select city administrator on our own, we couldn't come to a consensus after the first set of interviews, so we had to do another search," Dalke said. "That's why we're paying for them to help us with this search, rather than just casting our net out there.
"I think they've done a great job."
