Gardner City audit search panel OKs final interview questions, schedules candidate interviews

The Gardner City special search committee on Feb. 3 approved final edits to the opening statement and interview questions for candidates for city auditor, set logistics for interviews and public notice, and agreed to reconvene after interviews to draft a recommendation to the city council.

The committee removed the word 'policy' from a draft sentence and added language clarifying that the auditor position "does require tenants to do occasional after hours meetings to support the city," a line the committee said should appear in the introduction so candidates understand meeting obligations. "The changes will be set with the introduction," one committee member said after the group agreed on wording and placement.

Members also consolidated long lists of experience-related questions to shorten candidate prompts, moving technical items into a professional-experience section and combining related bullets to make answers easier to give. One member suggested providing candidates a printed copy of the questions during the interview so they could reference them; the committee agreed candidates would receive a copy at the time of their interview.

Human resources will attend all interviews and supply the committee with candidate resumes, the committee was told. "I did just confirm with the director of human resources that she will be attending all the interviews," a member said; HR will also distribute the questions to candidates and provide copies for the panel.

Staff reported three interviews already scheduled: two on Feb. 4 (a 4:00 p.m. virtual interview and a 5:30 p.m. in-person interview) and one on Feb. 5 at 4:00 p.m. The committee confirmed virtual interviews will run over Teams with an Owl camera to display candidates on the meeting screen.

The committee moved and seconded a motion to accept the edited opening and final interview questions; members voted in favor and the motion carried. "Aye," the panel responded during the roll call on the motion.

Committee members discussed their role after interviews and concluded the search panel will prepare a recommendation to place on the city council agenda rather than making a final appointment. They agreed to hold a debrief while impressions are fresh and targeted a tentative Tuesday 5:30 p.m. meeting next week to prepare that recommendation, with contingency plans if members cannot attend.

The committee directed staff to post the public recordings, share interview materials through the city’s interview resources, confirm the virtual setup for remote candidates, and schedule the post-interview deliberation to meet council deadlines. No vote on final appointment was taken; the panel’s next formal step is the post-interview recommendation to the full council.