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Committee delays decision on HR performance and data‑request software pending more information
Summary
Staff proposed buying Perform (employee performance software) and NextRequest (data‑request tracking); costs cited were roughly $4,600 one‑time plus $10,400 annual for Perform and ~$1,500 one‑time plus about $10,788 annual for NextRequest. The committee voted to delay action for two weeks to gather more information from IT and inventory existing software subscriptions.
City staff presented proposals to buy two software products — Perform for employee performance tracking and NextRequest for managing public data requests — and the Personnel and Finance Committee voted Aug. 4 to delay a final decision for two weeks while staff gathers additional information.
Finance Director Connie Hilman and HR Director Chris Schubert summarized cost estimates: Perform would have an approximate one‑time start cost of $4,600 and an annual license of about $10,400 (with a 2025 budget impact of about $4,864 if purchased in late 2025). NextRequest was presented with a one‑time fee of roughly $1,500 and a first‑year annual cost around $10,788. Staff said the city received more than 1,600 data requests in 2024 and about 939 so far in 2025, and argued that a single portal could improve tracking, redaction and compliance.
Several committee members raised concerns about long‑term commitments and software utilization across departments. One member questioned whether Perform would solve persistent personnel follow‑through on completing reviews; another member urged an inventory of existing subscriptions to see if current tools could meet needs before committing to new licenses. Chief Stumick (fire department) emphasized the complexity of current data requests and the risk of repeating past failures: he described prior challenges and said the manual process makes errors likely.
After discussion — including questions about whether consolidating data in a single portal could create access or security vulnerabilities and how losing a $20,000 Sourcewell grant affected funding — the committee moved and seconded a delay, asking staff to return with more information from IT and an inventory of current software subscriptions. The motion to postpone for two weeks carried on a voice vote.
