The Bozeman Study Commission on June 5 agreed on an advertising and submission timeline for its request for proposals to hire a public‑relations contractor and outlined how applications will be scored and finalists chosen.

The commission’s staff representative, Mike (staff member), told commissioners the RFP would now be advertised on June 10 and June 21, with proposals due June 30. He said the city’s templated contract language was updated late by the legal department and that the revised RFP would be available the following noon (Mike). ‘‘The submission date has to be at least 15 days after the first submission,’’ Mike said, describing the statutory advertising window the commission must follow.

Commission members discussed who should score applications and whether finalist interviews should be conducted in public. Deanna (Study Commission member) and Becky (Study Commission member) had been designated as the two primary coordinators to manage the process; commissioners said all four commissioners would receive applicant materials and score them if the applicant pool was small. ‘‘If there are 10 or under, we should all score,’’ Deanna said. Jan (Study Commission member) proposed that if there are more than 10 applicants, Deanna and Becky should narrow the pool to about five and then have the full commission score the finalists.

Commissioners debated whether interviews should be conducted by the full commission in open session or handled by a smaller panel. ‘‘Because this is a personnel issue and therefore sensitive,’’ a commissioner said, ‘‘having interviews with all of us would be in front of this body, who would close the meeting.’’ Mike replied that contracting is not necessarily a personnel matter and that the RFP’s templated agreement would be included with the solicitation so proposers know the contract terms in advance.

Carson Taylor (Study Commission chair) was identified as the signatory who would execute the final contract once the commission approved the recommended vendor. Commissioners agreed by consensus — not formal vote — on the ad dates, the June 30 submission deadline and that Deanna and Becky would coordinate scoring and present a recommendation. They also asked staff to circulate all proposals to commission members after submission so members can score them.

Next steps: the RFP will be published on June 10 and June 21; proposals will be accepted through June 30; the selection panel and interview format will be finalized after the number of submissions is known.