“MINUTES”
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 12 noon
Council Chambers
East side of Monte Verde Street between Ocean and Seventh Avenues
Archived video streaming
II. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Council Members Burnett, Hazdovac, Sharp, Talmage, Mayor McCloud
ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Heidi Burch, Assistant City Administrator/City Clerk
IV. Orders of Council
A. Interviews with representatives of selected firms interested in conducting the recruitment of the City Administrator.
Mayor McCloud opened and closed the meeting to public comment.
PECKHAM & MCKENNEY:
Bobbi Peckham, Peckham & McKenney, gave her presentation.
• Bobbi Peckham has been an executive recruiter with three separate firms; she founded her own firm seven years ago, Peckham & McKenney.
• 94% of placements in positions today.
• Peckham is currently working with the cities of Encinitas, Tulare, Town of Woodside; past work in the last two years with the cities of Del Mar, Mill Valley, St. Helena, Palo Verdes Estates and Town of Moraga.
• Peckham cited her past recruitment work for the cities of Park City, Vail, Big Bear Lake, Calistoga; all cities “very similar” to Carmel.
• Peckham characterized herself as having “more experience” than other recruiters with smaller, affluent, highly educated, tourism or resort based, communities.
• Peckham described her personality and style as “extremely high integrity.” She keeps cities posted on recruitment activities “at all times.” She has three contracts presently. Her “team” is primarily “me.”
• Process involves meeting individually with council members for about one hour, then meeting as a group, meeting with management employees and staff, participating in a public forum, contacting chamber, residents association for the purpose of developing a “profile.” She has a “search schedule.” She will do preliminary interviews of candidates and then communicate with city about interviews. Peckham has a “strong and active database.”
• Peckham described the role of the community in the process. After profile is developed, she searches for candidates, conducts preliminary interviews with 15-18 candidates, shares information with council and makes recommendations to the council. Council then selects finalists for interviews and determines process for selection of city administrator.
• Peckham's firm has a two year guarantee. She described situations with Calistoga and Moraga.
• In the aftermath of the Bell scandal, there is a focus on salaries and benefits. Two-tier system is considered now by cities. Salaries and benefits can be stated as “under consideration” during recruitment process.
• Typically 50-80 candidates for the position of city manager.
• Peckham stated that she is more actively involved in the profession than other recruiters. She encouraged the council to contact her references and talk to them.
ADDENDUM:
Bobbi C. Peckham
Bobbi Peckham is one of the West Coast’s leading local government recruiters and has 28 years of experience in local government and executive recruitment. Ms. Peckham began her career in the public sector in Naperville, Illinois, where she became familiar with all aspects of local government. Ms. Peckham was then recruited to join the Executive Search practice of a leading California recruitment firm. Later, she played an integral role in creating a national search business for what became the largest recruitment practice serving local government in the country. Here, she became Regional Director overseeing Northern California and a nine-state region.
In 2001, Ms. Peckham was invited to implement a public sector search practice for a Sacramento-based, private sector firm. As a result of her success in this implementation, she then chose to leave in June 2004 in order to form Peckham & McKenney in partnership with Phil McKenney. Ms. Peckham has personally conducted hundreds of national searches throughout the Western United States. She has extensive experience working with City Councils, Executive Boards, and local government administrators, listening to and understanding their needs in executive level placements.
Ms. Peckham received a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco. She is a contributing member of the International City/County Management Association, CAL-ICMA, International Public Management Association, Municipal Management Association of Southern California, Professional Businesswomen of California, Municipal Management Association of Northern California, and Women Leading Government.
Ms. Peckham was appointed to ICMA’s National Job Hunting Task Force and serves on Cal-ICMA’s Committee on Preparing the Next Generation.
Our Philosophy
“All About People”
“All About Fit”
When we chose to form our own executive search firm, we did so with the goal of providing both clients and candidates unparalleled service.
We achieve this goal by limiting the number of searches we take on at any one point in time, thereby focusing more directly on those we serve. In this way, no client or candidate should ever feel “lost in the shuffle.”
Not only do we take great care of our clients and candidates, but we are very actively involved in efforts to prepare the next generation of local government managers. Our commitment to the industry is genuine, and we look forward to many years of service
Testimonials
Current Searches
Recent Placements
BOB MURRAY & ASSOCIATES:
Bob Murray, Bob Murray & Associates, gave his presentation.
• Background and firm information:
For 25 years, Bob Murray (a former city manager) has placed over 125 city managers in California and the western U.S. His goal is to “get to know you” and use that information as a guide to search for outstanding candidates; client-driven and personal approach meeting councils’ needs and expectations. Murray described process as “transparent” and “engages the community.”
• Six people in Sacramento office; Regan Williams, Vice President; Wesley Herman, Vice President; S. Renee Narloch, Vice President — Southeast/Mid Atlantic Region; Amanda Urrutia-Sanders, Principal Consultant; Sarah Kenney, Senior Consultant; and Rosa Gomez, Administrative Manager
• Murray cited past recruitments for cities of Laguna Beach, Coronado (destination community), Lodi, Sonoma (destination community), Calistoga (destination community) and South Lake Tahoe.
• Input from businesses, residents, staff to produce profile: options include meet with representatives of each group, host a town hall meeting. Murray recommended a town hall meeting for members of the public to inform the decision-makers and himself as recruiter. Murrary described recommending 5-8 candidates, council interview candidates in executive session to narrow field to 3 candidates, then engage community and staff as advisors. Murray suggested appointing a citizen committee to talk to 3 candidates and report to council the strengths and weaknesses of candidates and areas to further pursue.
• Murray described himself as "attentive to clients," works diligently to get best candidates, and clients pleased with the outcomes.
• Murray cited his firm with the record of the majority of police chief searches in the western U.S. and city managers and city administrators’ searches.
• Current searches five or six; communication with council “as often as you like.”
• Murray recommended disclosing a two-tier system, if under consideration or adopted.
• Timeline: Sixty days from start of search until close of recruitment. Three weeks to review candidates and report recommendations to council. Council interview candidates within week and second round a week later. Candidate hired in five months.
• Reference checking process; once two-four final candidates identified, perform criminal, civil, credit, drivers’ license, and education checks.
• Murray concluded he likes what he does, it makes him a better recruiter and he wants to work with the council to find the best person, the best person for Carmel, “not for Bob.”
ADDENDUM:
Bob Murray, President
Mr. Murray brings over 20 years experience as a recruiter. Mr. Murray is recognized as one of the nation's leading recruiters. He has conducted hundreds of searches for cities, counties, and special districts. He has been called on to conduct searches for some of the largest most complex organizations in the country and some of the smallest. Mr. Murray has conducted searches for chief executives, department heads, professional and technical positions. Mr. Murray has taken the lead on the firm's most difficult assignments with great success. His clients have retained him again and again given the quality of his work and success in finding candidates for difficult to fill positions.
Prior to creating Bob Murray & Associates, Mr. Murray directed the search practice for the largest search practice serving local government in the country. Mr. Murray has worked in local government and benefits from the knowledge of having led an organization. Prior to his career in executive search he served as the City Manager for the City of Olympia, Washington. He has also served as an Assistant City Manager and held positions in law enforcement.
Mr. Murray received his Bachelor's degree in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley with graduate studies in Public Administration at California State University at Hayward.
“Experts in Executive Search”
Bob Murray & Associates brings a personal approach to providing quality executive recruitment services. Our clients include cities, counties, and special districts, both large and small. Our experience includes working with the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Fresno, Sacramento, and San Diego, CA; Eugene, Salem, and Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; San Antonio, TX; New Orleans, LA; Greenville, SC; Norfolk, VA; Jupiter and Miami Beach, FL; and Washington DC. Counties we have assisted include Orange County, Monterey County, and Marin County, CA; Clackamas County and Washington, OR; Fulton County, Orange County and Lowndes County, GA; Arlington County, VA; and Bay County, FL. We have also assisted a number of special districts and professional organizations including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and the California State Association of Counties.
Many of our clients are "repeat customers" that return to Bob Murray & Associates because of our emphasis on quality and our success in finding candidates for positions that are difficult to fill.
Through many years of experience, we have created an ideal recruitment process by combining our ability to help you to determine the direction of the search and the types of candidates you seek. We understand the importance of recruiting candidates who are not necessarily looking for a job and are doing well in their current position. Working with professionalism, integrity and personal attention, our team-oriented search process, in addition to our proven expertise, ensures that the candidates we present for your consideration will match the criteria you have established and will be outstanding in their field. Our collaborative process, created to build partnerships with our clients, entails the following:
• Developing a Candidate Profile
• Advertising Campaign and Recruiting Brochure
• Recruiting Candidates
• Candidate Interviews and Evaluation
• Referencing Top Candidates
• Recommendation
• Final Interviews and Background Checks
• Negotiations
Current Searches
1 comment:
Perhaps the mayor and council think by selecting Bobbi Peckham some of her "extremely high integrity" standard will make them like good. It is ironic that the requirements for some city employment positions when Rich Guillen was city administrator called for integrity at a time when the city administrator himself and mayor and council members lacked integrity. Let's hope the new city administrator will have integrity and not let the mayor and council go beyond their policy roles.
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