The South Padre Island City Council on a voice/hand-raise vote authorized the city manager to execute a contract with SearchWide Global to conduct an executive search for a new executive director of Visit South Padre Island, approving an amount not to exceed $53,750 and a related budget amendment.

Wendy Delgado, director of operations for the city, told the council the firm has worked with the city previously and offered a reduced fee. “They actually came in with a lower proposal. . . they charged us a fee of 33%, and so they’ve gone down to 25%, basically because it’s a repeat customer,” Delgado said.

The search is salary-based, Delgado said, so the final fee will depend on which salary step is used; she noted the $53,750 figure reflects the highest salary in the range. Delgado said the firm’s project lead, Nicole Newman, is experienced in convention and destination marketing organizations and typically conducts stakeholder meetings before recruiting candidates.

Delgado and staff also noted procurement thresholds: the city’s purchasing policy was raised to $100,000, although one council member said they still want to review items over $50,000. The council heard that the search process will take a minimum of about four months.

The motion to authorize the contract was made and seconded; the council voted by raised hands and the motion carried. The minutes did not record a roll-call vote or individual tallies.

Background: the contract will fund an external executive search intended to identify and hire a permanent executive director for Visit South Padre Island. Staff said the firm has handled previous candidate searches for the city and has national experience recruiting for destination management organizations.