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Council reviews city administrator job description and recruitment plan; consultant advises broad Midwest advertising and flexible residency language
Summary
A recruitment consultant presented a proposed city administrator job description, recommended advertising in regional outlets (including ICMA) and discussed experience, residency and salary-range options; councilors asked to review and submit edits before advertising.
The Ashland City Council reviewed a recruiter's presentation on a proposed job description for a new city administrator and discussed how the position should be advertised, required experience, residency requirements and salary considerations.
Mr. Hancock presented the questionnaire results and a draft job description, recommending a recruitment brochure and advertising across Midwestern outlets and professional channels such as the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). "We'll bring back to you 6 or 8 [candidates]," Hancock said, describing the search firm's role in screening and helping the council select finalists.
The draft job description included a typical minimum of five years of increasing municipal management responsibility; several councilors asked the consultant to add language that would allow "significant private-sector experience" to be considered in lieu of a full five years of municipal manager experience. One councilor suggested wording such as "relevant private-sector experience may be considered."
Council members debated residency language. Options discussed included residency within city limits, residency within the local school district, or a requirement to relocate to the city within six months of hire. Several members favored keeping a six-month move-in window and reserving the council's right to waive the requirement in exceptional cases.
Hancock also discussed salary-range considerations and said he had added about 10% to the upper range to attract candidates. The consultant recommended advertising in neighboring states and professional outlets and said LinkedIn and GovJobs would be considered despite higher costs.
Hancock asked council members to submit edits to the job description; he said the recruitment brochure would be finalized once the board provided feedback and that advertising would follow. The council closed the session by approving logistics to finalize the job description and to begin advertising after edits were incorporated.
The meeting adjourned following the recruitment discussion.
