Grand Junction staff seeks RFP approach to recruit new city attorney; council emphasizes culture fit and candidate pool size

At the March 2 workshop, staff asked the council for input on an RFP scope to retain an executive search firm for the city attorney recruitment. HR director Shelley (introduced by staff) described recommended scopes of service and deliverables intended to produce a qualified finalist slate.

Shelley told the council the RFP will describe the scope of services, expected deliverables and the recruitment timeline. She said that, historically, firms provide three to five finalists unless market conditions warrant a larger slate, and staff can adjust that number (for example, to five to ten finalists) if council prefers a wider pool. Councilmember Jason said he favored a larger starting pool to ensure adequate candidate options; others said they trusted HR and the selected firm to deliver an appropriate shortlist.

Councilmembers stressed the importance of cultural fit with the city manager's office and recommended including that criterion in the RFP. Ben urged staff to look for firms with legal‑profession specialty and broader candidate networks. The council discussed balancing the number of finalists with the workload of interviews and background checks.

Outcome: Staff will incorporate council feedback — including possible finalist‑pool size options and clearer deliverables on cultural fit — and finish an RFP draft for council review. No formal selection of a firm or specific finalist count was made at the workshop.