St. Charles council sets retreat cadence and asks for more transparency in director hiring

Councilmember Vince Ratchford led a discussion on Jan. 13 about formalizing a council retreat schedule and improving transparency in department director hiring. The council agreed in principle to hold two retreats per year locally — proposed for the fourth Tuesdays of January and August from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. — with the January session to be facilitated by the Director of Administration and the August session facilitated by an outside facilitator.

On hiring, Ratchford proposed aligning director hiring with board and commission appointment practices, including providing candidate resumes at least seven days before meet‑and‑greets. Human Resources Director Shanton Fountain said full resumes could hinder recruiting for executive-level hires that move quickly and suggested providing candidate summary sheets in advance instead. The council agreed not to pursue an ordinance at this time and requested that staff provide as much candidate information as practicable prior to meet‑and‑greets.

Director of Administration Larry Dobrosky noted past retreats were typically held out of town and sometimes required scheduling adjustments; formalizing a local schedule should improve predictability and planning. The council also expressed support for conducting "pre-retreat" interview sessions and for balancing accessibility and team‑building when selecting retreat formats.

Next steps: staff will prepare a formal proposal reflecting the council's preferred cadence and will provide candidate summary sheets in advance of meet‑and‑greets as part of the hiring process; no ordinance was drafted at the meeting.