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Council pauses HR consultant engagement pending administration cooperation on anonymous staff survey
Summary
A council request to hire an HR consultant to investigate workplace concerns and run an employee engagement survey stalled after consultants warned that without mayoral cooperation and guaranteed anonymity results could be unreliable; council leadership and the mayor agreed to meet offline to discuss next steps.
Council members discussed retaining an outside HR consultant to explore reports of a hostile work environment, high turnover among upper management and to conduct an employee engagement survey. The council member who led the effort summarized outreach to potential consultants and recommended not proceeding unless the administration cooperates to ensure employee participation and anonymity.
The presenting council member said two consultants were contacted: one declined for capacity or political‑risk reasons; the other quoted $20,000–$25,000 to draft and administer a survey, interview willing current and former employees, analyze results and deliver recommendations. The consultant cautioned the work would be ineffective without administrative cooperation because (1) employees are unlikely to trust an anonymous process without assurances against retaliation, (2) verifying that respondents are current or former employees is difficult without administration support, and (3) low participation would skew results and undercut statistical validity.
The council member recommended pausing a formal consultant engagement until the mayor’s office agrees to assist by permitting access to employees and by guaranteeing anonymity and non‑retaliation protections. The mayor said she would meet with the council member offline and requested that council leadership participate; the council member requested that President Cuda and Vice President Russell also attend. The mayor expressed reluctance to discuss details in public session and asked to meet privately to define the scope and logistics.
Council leadership accepted the recommendation to seek cooperation and additional discussion outside the public meeting; no contract or payment to an HR consultant was authorized at the session.
