City Council Minutes

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City of Northville
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
November 16, 2005 – 7:00 PM

Mayor Christopher Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM in Meeting Room A of the City of Northville Municipal Building, 215 West Main Street, Northville, Michigan.

ROLL CALL

Present: Mayor Christopher Johnson, Mayor ProTem Carolann Ayers, Councilmembers James Allen, Michele Fecht, and Thomas Swigart

Absent: None

Also Present: City Manager Gary Word, Assistant City Manager / Finance Director Nicolette Bateson, Deputy City Clerk Carol Kasprowicz, Reporter from the Northville Journal, and one citizen.

CITIZEN COMMENTS None

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion Allen, seconded by Swigart to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

CITY MANAGER SELECTION PROCESS

The initial decision to be made regarding the process of selecting the new city manager was whether to use an executive search firm. City Manager Word enumerated the benefits of employing a search firm which included providing independent screening of the candidates, provide the Council with profiles of the candidates including appropriate background and reference checks, assure the candidate with initial confidentiality thus encouraging candidate inquiries, provide candidates with in-depth information on Northville, and negotiate terms of employment. Word also encouraged the Council that if a search firm was to be hired, it should be at a cost set by a fixed fee.

Council Comments / Discussion: Consensus for hiring a search firm was reached. A tentative timetable of the process was discussed. Confidence in the Assistant City Manager was expressed regarding the position of Interim City Manager. Feedback is to be sought from staff regarding the potential candidates. The City Manager was requested to contact search firms and the Michigan Municipal League, and request proposals to be submitted by Monday, November 28, 2005.

Motion Swigart, second by Allen to call a special meeting for Monday, November 28, 2005 at 7 p.m. for the purpose of reviewing proposals from executive search firms regarding the new city manager, and other business to come before Council. Motion carried unanimously.

Further Council Comments / Discussion: The proposed advertisement for the position of city manager was reviewed and several changes were made. A final version will be published after consultation with the chosen search firm and approval by Council. A draft form of interview questions for the city manager candidates was reviewed. Any revisions are to be forwarded to the City Manager’s office. Council was cautioned that the search for the next city manager will be time intensive, and the Mayor requested the Council members to make themselves available as much as possible for all that will be required.

Motion Ayers, seconded by Fecht to call a special meeting on Thursday, December 1, 2005 at 7 p.m. to interview the executive search firms that will have been chosen from the proposals reviewed at the November 28th meeting, and any other business to come before the Council. Motion carried unanimously.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS

A. Mayor and Council - None.

B. Staff – None.

There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting was adjourned.

Meeting adjourned 7:43 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol T. Kasprowicz
Deputy City Clerk