Subcommittee recommends Strategic Government Resources to lead city manager search

The subcommittee charged with selecting a new city manager recommended Strategic Government Resources (SGR) to the full city council on a unanimous vote, and asked staff to finalize contract details and present the recommendation at a special council meeting Monday at 5:00 p.m.

The committee’s work followed two evaluation rounds of 13 initial applicants. Rich Sessi, procurement staff, said SGR had the highest combined score after round‑one scoring and an additional round that rated presentations and intangibles. "When you add those two together ... SGR was 141," Sessi said while presenting the combined scoring totals.

The committee asked that the contract with SGR include several specific add‑ons beyond the firm’s base services: DISC behavioral testing for finalists, the firm’s staff survey tool, at least one in‑person day for initial conversations with staff and council, and some form of community engagement (for example, a town hall) during final interviews. Committee members also indicated a preference that recorded screening interviews be replaced with interactive, unrecorded screenings.

Committee members discussed operational details the firm will need to carry out the search. Committee members asked staff to confirm the planned mix of consultant time (a 60/40 lead‑support allocation was discussed) and to work with SGR on ad placement and outreach, including use of the firm’s networks for minority candidate recruitment. Members also asked staff to clarify any vendor requests related to open‑records notices before finalizing terms.

The subcommittee moved to recommend SGR "with the items that you listed," and the motion was seconded. The committee chair called for a voice vote and reported unanimous approval. The committee directed staff to circulate the firm’s written proposal, the proposed contract and the project timeline to both the committee and the full council ahead of the Monday meeting.

Procurement staff said the next step is to ask the preferred firm to execute the city contract or to flag any exceptions; once the city and firm resolve terms, staff will countersign and SGR will begin the search process. The committee noted that the contract timeline and the budget line item for the work must be clear to the full council before that meeting. The committee also raised logistics such as whether recruitment funds include spouse travel and noted a previously referenced $2,500 recruitment/account threshold though specific budget line items were not specified in the meeting.

The recommendation will be presented to the full council at a special meeting set for Monday at 5:00 p.m. The committee emphasized that the council vote must occur in an open meeting. The subcommittee adjourned at 9:52 a.m.