Menlo Park: Council to discuss city manager replacement plan tonight

With everyone leaving for other cities why doesn't Menlo Park look to new idea on retention. Start up companies offer stock options to keep people, not an option for the city but a bonus structure based on tenure could be a good hook. I am sure there are other creative ways to help retain good employees.

Per an email from the Mayor in response to my email to City Council (below), this agenda item is being moved up to come right after the Belle Haven Library topic. If you have thoughts on this topic, please email City Council at city.council@menlopark.org.

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Dear City Council Members,

We are 28 days away from an election that could bring a great deal of change to our City Council. Given the huge role that the City Manager has on our City, it is critical that we wait to make any substantive decisions about the hiring of the City Manager until after the election.

The Staff Report for Agenda Item I-4 recommends that the City Council appoint a subcommittee tonight to oversee the City Manager section process. Given the imminent departure of Mr. McIntyre, it argues that immediate action should be taken, and even points out that the Mayor has already directed staff to solicit proposals from professional recruiting firms.

It is not appropriate for a subcommittee to be appointed before the election that will develop the "ideal candidate profile" and "the selection process." It's one thing to move forward with the soliciting of proposals for recruitment firms at this time (though even the definition of a 'good firm' can be subject to values and policies - who the firm considers stakeholders, track record of recruiting women and people of color, a generally diverse pool of applicants, etc., etc.), but an entirely different thing to make any other decisions. The upcoming election may have a huge impact on the Council and it is critical that we give those elected on November 6th, whether they be newcomers or incumbents, a chance to be part of the process.

I would also encourage the City to create an advisory committee of some sort made up of key stakeholders to give input into what qualities they would like to see in a City Manager. This advisory committee should be made up of a diverse pool of interested parties and ideally would have a part in the selection process as well.

Finally, I encourage you to go through this process in the most accessible/transparent way possible for the community at large. Having this item last on the meeting's agenda does not inspire public participation and oversight.

There is a lot at stake in this process. Please make sure that it is done correctly.

Thank you for your consideration.

Jen Wolosin

This was justed posted in the city council inbox--and I repost here.

Dear City Council Members
Before entering into the quest for a new city manager, I suggest you
• Hire a (non-traditional) consultant to offer alternative organizational and staffing models for a small city such as ours.
• Get these new models on the table before new committees are created, to help them profile the next city manager.

We have always had retention issues because good people want to move to larger cities.
And now the problem is exacerbated because employment is so tight. Most neighboring cities are struggling to retain and hire new staff.

A staff of 287 for our small city is excessive, even if the slots are not filled. We should freeze hiring, or most hiring, until the review is done.

Thanks, Mickie Winkler, former Menlo Park Mayor

I also wrote Council on the topic. Here's the email I sent this morning. Thanks to Jen and Mickie for their emails too.

Hello Council,

The staff report omits staff, small business owners, and the public in the
process. The process steps need to include at least one community meeting
where staff, small business owners, and the public can give input into what
they consider important in a new city manager. I would hold the meeting
together, after hours. I would devise the meeting to include small group
format and to ensure confidentiality -- without violating the Brown Act. To
break down the silos in Menlo Park, please have a common meeting where
different types of people can mix and meet.

I read a recent newspaper article that said Half Moon Bay was hiring a new
City Manager. The article asserted that they had 50 qualified applicants.
The article also noted that HMB held a public forum designed to collect
staff and public input regarding what qualities and skills they believed
the new HMB City Manager should posses. Menlo Park can learn from Half Moon
Bay's approach. We might also ask suitable people why they believed that so
many applied for the HMB City Manager position.

I would also include at least some City Managers from Santa Clara County
(and a few in San Mateo County) in an advisory committee or extended
advisory committee. As most of our problems are regional ones (housing,
traffic, etc.) this approach would pave the way for later synergistic
cooperation and effort in tackling our shared problems.

We also need public/staff representation on City Manager search committee.
Our City has grown too large and complicated to just leave the hiring of
Menlo Park's chief executive to two council members on a subcommittee.
While Council retains the final "hiring authority" -- we need to better
include staff and the public in this process.

I also think we would attract more applicants if we broadened the City
Manager's reporting and firing structure. Right now, the City Manager is
too dependent on Council to retain his/her position. This could (and some
say already has) led to the City Manager becoming more focused on pleasing
3 Council members (the majority needed) than on serving the overall public
good. The City Manager should be serving the public and Council should
serve the public. However, reasonable questions have been raised regarding
just whose interests are primarily being served in Menlo Park. We need more
protection for qualified City Managers from the potential whims of Council
members and to ensure that this person focuses on public's interests.
Holding public performance evaluation sessions, as other towns do, would
help to ensure transparency regarding the city manager's job performance
and more protections. An able City Manager should not worry about the
public weighing in on his/her job performance.

Having a community-based strategic planning process would also be helpful.
A plan such as the Tacoma 2025
<Web Link plan would
provide a decision-making framework that would cut down on the "political"
aspect of making decisions.

Lynne Bramlett

What happened with this item? I've looked for a post-meeting summary, but haven't seen anything! Don't make me watch the video LOL