City Council - Regular Meeting

Are everybody prepared? I guess we haven't heard from Colt, so I suspect.

He is.

I'm here.

Oh, I'm here. Are you, do you have a copy of the questions?

I do not. Dang it. Wait, hold on. I actually might, if I can keep you guys on Zoom doing this. Am I live Zoom?

You're still here.

You were sent to us an email.

Gosh.

I was about to say, I'm going to open the email Jeremy sent me.

Oh, I just texted it to you.

Did you hear that, Cole? Jeremy texted it to you.

I think Colt muted himself. Very good.

Yep, I got him.

All right. So just so we're on board, I'll start. When we do the questions, I'll start with you, and you can ask question one, and we'll come around by Councilor Hofer after you. Okay? Okay.

Oof.

All right, so let's get this meeting and then let's all of me in order at 5.30 to let us in the pledge.

I think you're going to want to be one nation. Well,

Good evening.

Good evening, Eileen. Can you hear me?

I can. Can you hear me? Yes.

Excellent. Right on. Okay. So we're going to get right into it. We're going to start with some questions and I'm going to let our counselor who's coming in via Zoom ask the first question. Oh, thank you. Yes. But let's do introductions first. Go ahead, Mr. Colt.

My name is Colt Wilkins. I've been on city council for What about a year? And I'm interim.

Nice to meet you. Councilor Hover.

Scott Hover, councilor. I've been the council twice as an interim member. This is my second term as such. And thank you for joining us today.

You're welcome. Thank you for the opportunity.

Chris Nygro, appointed councilor for about two years now.

Nice to meet you.

Hi, I'm Robin Peterson. I've been on council for not quite two years.

Nice to meet you.

Hi, Eileen.

Thank you so much for being here today. My name is Drew Hillibrandt. I'm the city council president. I've been on councils for about four years now.

Nice to meet you.

I know. I am Kitty Mackin. This is year 10 on council. And I tell dad jokes. He laughs at most of them.

Nice to meet you as well.

All right. Were you able to find the questions?

Yes, I was.

Okay. I'll let you start then, sir. I thought you were talking to me. Oh, sorry, Eileen.

It's like questions.

I didn't get any questions. Way to make you panic, right?

Sometimes they provide questions and sometimes they don't. So we'll just go with it.

All right. So my first question is, what does success look like for you at the 30, 60, and 90-day marks in an interim assignment?

Um, So at 30 days, it's looking like if I found where the bathroom is and where my desk is and do I know the city council's first names and stuff like that. It's just really getting to know the city, getting to know the staff, getting to know the council. And if there's anybody, you know, in the community that you would want me to meet right off the bat, I would say that that would be, you know, immediate priority. At 60 days more of the same better understanding of what the issues are that are facing the city. A little bit more of you know kind of settling in and making sure that I understand what the Council wants to do in the time that I'm there. And then after 90 days, I would say hopefully we've started the recruitment process perhaps for the permanent city manager and that I have a firm understanding of what the city's expectations are for that position and what to communicate to prospective candidates. So I'm available to help and I would expect to help with the recruitment process. the process itself. So, you know, we would want to, I think by three months out, we'd want to start the recruitment process and get going and get the position advertised. So that's kind of what I see in that 30, 60, 90 day timeframe.

Thank you.

Okey-doke.

leadership transitions can create uncertainty amongst staff. How would you assess the organizational morale and build trust with employees during your first few weeks?

Just by making sure that there are If there's any kind of a regular communication process, you know, check-ins, department head meetings, things like that, that we keep those going so that the the workflow of the organization is not interrupted. It continues to flow how people expect it to flow. I would want to make sure that I get out and introduce myself to all the staff and establish regular communication processes, like I mentioned. So and just really projecting, which is something that I'm fairly good at is just being able to project that sense of calmness and that we'll be okay and that I am an interim and I will take care of you in this period of time and that we will get through it and get the process of starting the recruitment get that going so that people can see that that process really is starting. So, yeah.

All right. On number three, what is your philosophy priorities regarding the city budgeting for our library parks and public recreation areas?

I would say at this point in time, it's really to keep things going. You know, it's a new fiscal year. You would have just adopted a budget. So I see in this interim position, my role being to just begin to implement that budget and take on the projects and the vision that is set by that budget and just keep the services of the city going.

Thank you. Okay. Number four. Tell us about a time when you stepped into an organization during a period of change or instability. What were the key challenges and what did you do to stabilize operations?

So that was probably can be where I was at just before that they had gone through a series of changes that did create instability. And I think I was very effective at coming in and being able to cast or create a sense of calm in the organization. I think I'm pretty calm by nature and, Um, and, um, and that's what staff really needed was just somebody who could project that sense of calmness and we'll get through this. And, you know, as I was saying before, just keeping the regular processes that staff are used to keeping those going, um, so that they're, um, that, that their day is as normal as it can be.

Thank you.

All right. When you enter, excuse me.

We're now recording the meetings.

We thought we were already apparently.

Do you need me to go back and answer any of those questions? No, no, it's all right.

All right.

All right. When you enter a new organization as an interim executive, how do you identify which issues require immediate attention and which can wait for the next permanent city manager?

That's a great question. You know, I think. In my meeting with staff, department heads and staff, that tends to come out, you know, what needs to happen. I can see it in their eyes. What are the priorities that are really bugging them? And they might not even be what you think they are because staff might have a good handle on a major project, for example. But gosh, you know, that interaction that I'm having with my coworker is really bugging me. So, you know, you really need to assess whether, you know, progress needs to be made on that major project or you have a personnel matter, for example, that you need to kind of. get the employees together and talk it through. So it really is, I mean, what I would do is, again, sit down and meet with staff and really suss out what are the important priorities and which ones can wait. And, you know, and also kind of timeframes, you know, if there's a grant funded project or something that has timeframes associated with that, then we need to get on those as well. So that's how I would go about it. So yeah, just community, making sure that there's good communication.

Well said. What unique strengths or experiences do do you bring that would help our community navigate this transition period?

Well, I think one strength that I bring is that I have been through a similar transition in Canby where they were really looking for somebody to kind of, you know, calm things down, carry the water while the decision was being made on who the next permanent city manager was. So that's really the important thing is to make sure that that is attended to. Can you repeat the question if you don't mind?

No problem. What unique strengths or experiences you bring that would help our community navigate this transition period?

So again, I think that my strength lies in my calm demeanor. and my ability to really understand what needs to be done in that short period of time. I have lots of experiences. Hopefully you've seen my resume, but I have lots of experience to draw from. And so, you know, I could bring all of that experience to bear and just you know just depends on what the needs of the community are that you know I would just draw from different strength areas that I have so I would say my strengths are my calm demeanor and my experience to draw from. And my networks. I have quite an extensive network of city managers around the state. I've been president of the Oregon City Managers Association. So if I don't have the answer myself, I know how to go about getting it. Thank you.

All right, thank you. How do you view the role of an interim city manager in preparing the organization for a permanent city manager?

Well, again, I feel like I'm kind of being a broken record, but I think the first priority is to make sure that the organization has what they need in order to keep business going. You know, whether it's the resources or whether it's just, you know, somebody needs to chat about what's going on that is bugging them or what they need to do in order to have direction on this project or that project. And just kind of settle everybody down so that they feel like they have the direction that they need. If you can attend to that, they will take care of the city. And I think that, you know, understanding what the council expects during the transitionary period of time is an important consideration so that the interim knows what he or she is doing and and then that can be conveyed to the organization as well. So, you know, this is where we're going. This is what the time frame is for the transition, letting people know as much as possible, you know, where are we at in the transition and what are what are the steps that are being taken so that people feel like they that they are on board and that they understand the direction that's being taken.

Thank you. Colt, are you still there?

Yeah, I am. Sorry, I didn't unmute myself.

Would you like to read the last question?

Sure. Sure. If appointed, what level of availability could you provide? How long would you be willing to serve? And are there any logistical considerations that council should understand when evaluating the overall cost and feasibility of your appointment? Examples may include relocation needs, temporary housing, transportation arrangements, or limitations on weekly work hours?

So I live in Canby, so I'm relatively nearby. And so I don't and I won't need any transitional housing or anything like that. McCray and I have talked about giving this giving about 20 hours a week of effort to this position. And I think we'll just have to see if that's enough or too much or too little. You know, I, I Because of my experience, I don't want to say that I can do the job in half the time, but I do have a lot of experience to be able to draw from. And I think that being able to, you know, make sure I'm at council meetings and make sure that I'm at key meetings of city departments and have check-ins, whether they're Zoom or Zoom, email or you know or i'm in the office um that again staff has what they need um to um you know be able to answer the staff has what they need to be able to do their jobs and if they're doing their jobs they're keeping the services of the city going um So I see my job is to be, you know, being able to just translate what is the desire and what is the rule of the council. And how do we, you know, make sure that that gets conveyed to staff so that they, again, they can keep doing their job.

So.

Thank you. Jeremy, Rocio, did you have any questions you wanted to?

No, I will say that Rocio and I, I will say that my name, McRae, or my name, McRae is the other person joining us tonight. They were gracious enough to join us, Rocio and me, for lunch a couple weeks ago in Salem to talk about this in the community a little bit more. So just wanted you to be aware of that.

Fantastic. She's already networking.

I'm sorry I did not introduce McRae. I didn't know if you knew her already.

I could not recognize her. I just thought she was a Dayton resident listening in. I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

You know, I think my question is really...

Um, you know, when do you want to get started on the recruitment for the permanent position? And, um, and when, and what are your expectations for the interim?

So I would say it's much of what you said is to keep business going, um, to sort of deduce what's needed now versus what can wait until we have a permanent city manager. And to really focus on getting that city manager that we need in position as soon as possible. Those are the biggest priorities, I would say. So I don't know if anybody else has anything to add. Yes, absolutely.

I didn't mention, and I should, that right now the COG is working on a recruitment for the city of Donald. So they will be looking for a city manager as well. And I have been assigned that project. And so that is something that I would... need to continue working on but what I could also say is that that you know we're just at that point where we're you know identifying what are those key characteristics that Donald needs for its city manager and so I'm just in that headspace right now of what are those you know key characteristics that Dayton would want for its next city manager as well so

might work out just fine.

I have another question. If you don't mind, you talked a lot about candy, but you were a city manager in Sisters for 11 years. Yes, I was. And that town is more similar, I think, in size to us. Correct. Do you draw any comparisons or glean anything from that job?

Oh, certainly. Yes. Yes, I do. You know, in terms of the recency, obviously, and the amount of organizational effort change in a short period of time. That's why I mentioned Canby. But I was in Sisters for 11 years. And the city at the time was, you know, the Central Oregon real estate market was really just heating up at that point in time. And Sisters did not have a sewer system. And so they had just installed one with the help of the state of Oregon public works funds. And so it was almost like a constraint that Sisters was set to grow once that sewer system was in. And it did. And for several years, their sisters was the fastest growing city in the city, or in the state, even though it was like, you know, wow, we grew 100 people, but you know, we grew more than somebody else did. And so there was a lot that was done, a lot of master plan work, a lot of transportation planning work, a lot of community development work, a lot of team building, a lot of vision setting that was done over the years. And, you know, everything that you, the street skate project that was done, everything that you see in Sisters today is the foundation of that was laid while I was there. So I'm very proud of the work that I did in Sisters, but it's, you know, yeah, it's several years ago now, so it's not the immediate thing that I think of, but I'm very proud of the 11 years that I spent there. Yeah.

Thank you. I wanted to hear it from you.

The Eileen Stein roundabouts.

Yes, those two roundabouts that are now in Sisters were also on the transportation system. Way back in the day. So, yeah. So if you like them, I'll claim credit if you don't, you know. That was a series of decisions that had to be made. The transportation system plan, again, was adopted. And the city really needed to decide how it was going to allow traffic to flow through town and whether it was going to continue to rely on Cascade Avenue, which is the main drag in Sisters, or if it was going to use Cascade and Hood as a couplet. And that, so that decision had to be made first before we figured out how we were going to accommodate traffic on either end. So anyway, you know, there's, there are, you have to make this project or this decision before you make that. before you make that decision. So that also goes back into factoring into how decisions are made, what needs to be done first, what can feasibly be done first and what order do you have to take things in? So the other thing that I'm working on for the COG, I should also mention is the Yamhill County Regional Water Plan. And that is, you know, that's definitely a kind of a one, two phase kind of a project. So, you know, phase one will be the feasibility study of even looking at what is possible. What is technologically possible? Technologically? And then we'll get into... the governance piece of it, and what is politically feasible. So something might be technologically feasible, but it might not be politically feasible, or vice versa.

So that you notice the difference.

Oh, yeah, definitely. There is a difference. Yeah. So, you know, whether or not I get this position or not, I will be working on that project, helping out with keeping that project going.

Well, we're a part of that. I know. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I kind of, you know, started looking today at the website and realizing that, you know, you've got projects where we need to attend to this intertie and how are we going to, you know, provide our water service in the long term. So you've got some great projects, some great needs, and I applaud you for, you know, for your work, the work that you all do. So. Yeah. It's an exciting city. There's a lot to do there. Yeah.

It is. All right. I think we're done. All right. Thank you, Eileen, for your time. Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too. Have a wonderful evening. You, too.

Take care. Good luck on your decision.

Thank you. We're going to adjourn for 10 minutes so I can go potty for reals too. Right, we are back at 6.06. And I guess we need to talk semantics.

So I feel like there's a question that we need to answer with your help, Jeremy, and all of us, the conversation we need to have. Is this job possible with part-time? Because we have some strong part-time candidates and some strong full-time candidates. I guess my question is, if it was a half-time or whatever person, would we be able to have some funds to contract some of the workout that we're doing if you're really doing the job with a couple of people? So I guess I need you to speak to that or someone else to speak to that. I don't feel clear myself on whether, because at first I thought, no way, a part-time person could never do this gig.

I believe it is workable. However, however, You should be prepared if you want a part-time city manager to reduce city hall open hours. And we will need some other forms of support for things like code enforcement and billing permits. If we don't have that additional support, then we're not going to have code enforcement until permanent city managers in here and settle and then we would have to look at just having the permit counter open a limited time of the week so it's workable as long as we understand there are trade-offs and a part-time interim city manager is going there is we're going to be in a caretaker phase at city hall that means any additional projects or tasks, we can't do them. Anything that adds workload to staff, we can't do it. Any events that staff have usually been a part of planning, like National Night Owl, we can't do it. And I think that approach, one of the benefits is it will generate quite a bit of savings for the student. And you can use those savings to undergo a professional recruitment process.

That's the other question for the recruitment of the permanent city manager. Are we going to have the funds to use some sort of agency to help us, or are we going to be reduced to just doing it all ourselves?

If you have a part-time interim city manager, I believe you'll have the savings to where you could pay $15,000 or $20,000 for recruiting members. If you have a full-time enrollment, that process can be done in-house.

And how is the workload on staff if that's done in-house? And how does that disrupt our regular services? Or will it?

If we have a part-time or a full-time?

A part-time or if we had a part-time.

Because full-time would be in-house, but the part-time would

Yeah, if it's a full-time, how would the in-house compare to the part-time in terms of staff? Are they going to be having to be pulled away from their regular work to help with the recruitment process?

If it's full-time staffs, if you have a full-time interim sitting manager, staff's involvement in the recruitment process will be using Canvas, which is our design software to develop procurement materials. They'll also play a logistical role in setting up interview meetings and getting stacks and all that stuff.

So they will have additional duties outside of their regular...

Yes, but I believe it'll be minimal and the interim will be driving most of that process. If you have a part-time interim city manager, we are not going to have to pass all of that.

I'm curious, how much did Jensen cost when we contracted with them last time?

It was about $26,000. And then it still took staff. So either way, it's going to take staff.

Okay. Chancellor Hogan. So if we go to a part-time, why don't you cut it back on city hour? Like, front desk Alex will be with you. Why wouldn't he?

I have totally received them. Sometimes citizens, not only does Ricky have to deal with citizens, but we have to be available or citizens to talk to me. It's like I had a five o'clock citizen come in with building permits that they wouldn't need to get.

Well, we can reduce building permits, but still leave the office open for business, just general day-to-day business for people to walk in and do. I mean, there could be some kind of job in there that wouldn't actually, I really feel bad about closing the doors on our actual office. The fact that we're not getting off on Fridays has been a hit, and

so i would hate to see that deeply actually having a door you can walk in and see ricky it's a bigger deal keep in mind that's not going to last forever the sooner we get a full-time city manager in place that's all going to change it's temporary right so a temporary thing shouldn't make us determine

But I think that people are going to respond to a temporary being a six months of what Jeremy said, we're looking at six months of reduced city all hours where you're not even going to find a body in there, but what, two days a week now? Three days a week? I'm just saying from what I've heard from the people in this community and I talk to on a regular basis, they didn't like it when we lost Fridays and they muttered about that to this day.

So sure. Mayor. Also, we do that, that, that reduces the hours of the city staff, correct? No, since that will still be broken.

I mean, as it is, as it is with Ricky's workload, we've already been talking about like once every other week or so opening lates just so this unit caught up.

When you're disrupted many times during the day, it's very hard to get your regular stuff done. Believe me, I know.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes, I'm sure.

So is it hard to find? We've talked, we've just mentioned, yeah, you could contract someone to do a code enforcement if it permits or whatever. Is it, are those people out there? Like someone that we could. City of New Bern. Could contract with to do code enforcement?

Or are we contracting with New Bern to do, to do our reportment with the Inspectorate of Student Law Legends? And that would probably, we could probably add that to that.

The process right now, they contact you, you contact Newberg. For billing?

Yeah, so an applicant submits their application in our portal. I review it, I collect the fee, and then I push it on to Newberg.

And they're the ones doing the on-the-ground inspection.

So it seems like we're kind of Wayne, it seems like one of the main things that is affecting this decision is whether we can do recruitment in-house or externally. Because I think a full-time position that we then still have to contract out, like we don't want to do, right? If we're paying for a full-time position, we want to contract that in-house. So it seems like one of the conversations we need to be having is which of the full-time candidates Do we trust with that recruitment process. Because, you know, to me, at least if that's if that's a requirement from us, then anybody who we feel cannot, you know, run that is just out of the picture. Is that, is that fair?

That's fair. Kitty? Oh, I just had an idea I wanted to throw out there. If we skip the interim, are any of these candidates Interesting enough that they could maybe stick around for a couple of years. Seems to me I heard two of them say, I'll stay as long as it takes. What if we try working with them so that we don't have to do one change and then another one within the next six months? I think the only one that said that was Gretchen. I thought Krishna said it.

No, she didn't. She said she still...

has obligations. Oh, that's right. She's the one with Gretchen. Was she one of your favorites or something?

Yeah, she was the one that's from Florida.

Okay. Fort Lauderdale. She was managing her department.

Broward County.

Can you imagine spring break?

Is there any chance we could go there and then we don't have to do the transition and do this again? We've already spent the money. Can I actually comment on that? Yes.

I think that we, for us and for everyone, I think we want to view this as going through the process. But then if she starts working in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days in, we're like, okay, we'd love to stick with you. Then we have that conversation.

But I don't think we should bank off. And she did. I don't think she wants to do that right away either until she has an opportunity to step in as infra.

Yeah.

Just fill it out.

I think there's like a bonus star to that possibility, but I don't think it should be what decides our decision.

I think that in the interim position is a really important moment for an organization because you have to reflect a lot on what you're looking for and what we need and what we want. And so I think entering this as an intern position, and yes, maybe down the road, we go, you know, are you, you know, in other words, they're just because they have accepted an intern position doesn't mean they're off the list for the forever job. But I think you want to come into this as an intern with the focus of that. Who are we? Where are we going? What's important? Getting things lined up and stacked up. and caught up. I think that's really, really, really an important thing for organizations, schools or whatever.

Are you talking about the normal everyday activities that need to be done?

Yeah, getting everything done, but also making sure that where we're going and what we've been doing.

Whoever stands from is very still trying to get on that.

On what do we really want? And she talked about. Well, that's what our last campaign is. Me too, because she talked a lot about the staff, about paying attention to the staff and making eye contact with them and seeing what is... No, I mean this last candidate.

I liked her too because of that, and I really liked that she thought a lot about the staff.

I think that's just so important.

Gretchen did the same thing. She also talked about making herself available to the community, which impressed me very, very much. Yeah, I like that too. here.

Well, I just want to jump in here just so everybody has accurate information. Krista Miller did say that she'd be willing to commit as long as it is potentially for permanent employment. So just wanting you to be aware of that.

Yeah, I remember that too. So kind of diving in a bit more on like the You know individuals side of this, I think, with eileen I really enjoyed the conversation today, but I think it really comes down to that are we comfortable with contracting out and part time or realistic I think that's I think it's a question of. yeah.

Well, I for me it's not a big deal that she's part time and the reason is is because it's temporary she's very well educated and has tons of experience she has. anybody and everybody she can reach out to for any need she has. And she just has a calmness, like a motherly kind of calmness that I think is good for this transition, particularly for staff, since they've been through a whole shiitake stuff.

But she's only going to stay there 20 hours and we put the staff. That's another bottle.

And, you know, Well, while in this conversation, in this meeting, we cannot talk about compensation for the applicants, we do know that the Jensen, you know, thing, at the time, cost was $26,000, and we'd be staring down a barrel of a $25,000 to $30,000 expense for outsourcing and hiring. So, you know, we can't talk about that, right? I assume, which you did. Yeah. So, you know, that's kind of weighing heavy on me right now in this conversation. The cost, yeah. Yeah.

Not the personnel side of it, but the outsourcing of the hire. So am I hearing that you like the idea of a full-time intro so that we do the in-house hiring?

I do. And I think one of the things that swayed me on that was the commentary on the last one, if Jensen still required staff time. So it's not like, you know, working with an outside source is going to eliminate the staff time. it's still going to be there. It's just another $25, $30,000 for everything else. So personal opinion, I'm leaning away. Plus like the closing city hall, like there's, the things are stacking up to me leaning away from the part-time. But if the council as a whole is like, no, this is the right person and I can get on board with it. But that cost is just weighing on me right now.

Yeah. I hear you. I have a question with COG. Do they have, do they, Give us resources for names, recruitment. I mean, are they a resource for us, whether we use them or not, kind of thing?

Absolutely. They can be a resource for a full-time or two.

That's kind of what we use. We got Rochelle through the call. I'll add something on there. Way back when, as a finance director, we did.

We also had to see Mandy and I, probably. Did you guys hear what John was saying? We had a couple sitting down. I'm sorry. We had multiple conversations going on. That's my fault. I'm sorry.

Go ahead. I did ask the co-hub to prepare a proposal for . I anticipate our proposal would be less expensive than from a private firm.

Oh, there would be a fee on that? Yes. Everything that G4 sees. What are we talking about, Mark?

I don't know.

But you've asked them to get some bids and send you to them. Yes. We haven't managed to do it. So do we all know about who we want, who we'd go to be the best candidate, each and every one of us, or have we not decided that? I mean, if we could have just explained why we want a candidate and what motivates them now, are we at that point in this conversation? Opinion on that a little bit, who was in person for all three mandates?

Okay. So, personal opinion, because I wasn't at the one Thursday, I'd actually like to maybe ask the four who were present. Did you not watch the video? I did, but there was also a little bit of a recording issue with the first half of it.

Of course, there was three questions in the first half. Right.

But I don't know. I think there's just something different about being in person versus just watching it. So, personal opinion. Okay. What's the question? Oh, just what was your perspective on all three sets?

Like your question, but like starting with... Your perspective on the two on Saturday? Or Friday? Is that when we're actually... Because that's the only one that we've... Yeah.

Because you and I weren't at the one on Thursday. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I guess that's what... That's it. It's just asking about the one on Thursday.

And that was what? That was Gretchen. That was Gretchen and Krista.

Yeah.

Gretchen and Krista were both strong candidates, I thought. Gretchen is kind of one of my favorites, just her solid knowledge of large and small projects. Her, of course, as a teacher, I'm always drawn to people that are teachers. She's a lawyer. She's really experienced at grant writing. She's done a lot of personnel stuff. She's friendly. She's confident. But Krista, you know, I liked her empathy for the little guy. I liked her willingness to do boots on the ground. But her experience is more many short, short, short interims, which maybe is great in terms of her giving his stats. But so I thought Gretchen, Gretchen is an executive feeling person. And we'll take control of the office, but at the same time, I sensed that she would be a good listener to the staff and to us, focusing on what we think is important.

I agree. She was very attentive. She dissected the questions and answered them thoroughly. That impressed me. She was also, she talked a lot about setting up success for the incoming manager. So, and she said that often, but understood the approach with the staff. I mean, she laid it out. She was very professional. The one thing that kind of turned me off on Krista was actually in her resume. And it was some of her comments that she made about almost a blaming type vibe to it. And that immediately kind of was like, well, and then the short terms.

The short terms. So is she from Lakeview, Washington? Or is she the city manager of Lakeview, Oregon?

She's temporary, not even working. It's a volunteer position right now.

That's what I'm talking about. So do we all know what happened in Lakeview?

And she was in Toledo and Lakeside. And I will say I looked up a little information and found some information. I was just all over the thing, but it wasn't very positive.

And all this time I've been thinking like, it's like, yeah.

So jumping away from them real quick with Eileen tonight, I understand I'm kind of tossed up where she's got a lot going on. but there's also a lot of benefit to what she's doing on the outside. And I hear what you said about having the open door for the community, but it also gives our staff time to get caught up and not feel so pressured in a way when the doors are closed and they get things done. So those are the things I'm thinking.

That's kind of a good setup too for the next city manager, the permanent one to come on because they'll be in a place that's solid as opposed to trying to run all over the place.

Right. I do want to say on the record, well, sorry.

No, no.

I just want to say thank you, Jeremy, for five really strong hands.

Yes.

I wanted that to get on recording. Yes.

I was kind of going on the fire. Krishna and Christy. both had some passion behind them. It felt to me like they would hit the ground running and fight for Nathan. But I'm not sure that overall, especially with what I've been hearing, bringing somebody back who was here before might not be the best idea. Although we have a new mayor, we have a new council, We have the resolution of inclusiveness, so the one thing the mayor brought up wouldn't be a problem anymore. But it does appear that Gretchen came through as the best place for a number of people. I was not impressed with one or two of them overall. There just didn't seem to be enough. Fire in there.

May I ask, is it okay to ask who?

Keith didn't have fire. Okay. And for me, Krista, she might have said the words, but she was faking a laugh. She came across very...

At first. Trying to stay to the positives in this journey. Yeah.

I'm not trying to help, but we're talking about the ones. Okay. So, but that I'm just saying that's, that's why I didn't care for that particular candidate.

Okay. Things there. If we go back to our. Like crux piece of this. Okay. If we want to look at a full time, we really want to try to look at. bringing a hiring procedure in-house, you know, I look at both Gretchen and Krista and I worry that the experience is not there to run that in-house would be my concern with these two individuals in particular.

With who? Gretchen.

With Gretchen. Gretchen.

7,000 employees. Why would Gretchen be able to? Fort Lauderdale.

She was working for Broward County. Assistant County Administrator, yeah. 2016, 2019.

Yeah, that's sweet. That's more law than spring break math. And Broward County is a huge county.

It's right next to Miami. Executive director of a huge county.

She can do it. There's no doubt about that.

Fair. That's good, isn't it? So then the other two then, so Keith and Christy. Okay, so Christa. I think that based off of what I'm hearing, we don't think that there's necessarily the experience there to be able to run an in-house transition. Right. Okay. So, Christine, Keith.

Keith is not for me. Okay. I don't know about anybody else.

I think just the travel back and forth is going to. She said she was going to keep her position.

If I'm going to choose full-time, it would be Gretchen. If I'm going to choose part-time, it would be Eileen.

I think I'm there, too. I really like Keith's experience. He's worked in Olympia and in Salem and really spot-on, 40 years of experience. But the logistics of living in bed doesn't work for me. I thought he was amazing, but I think that doesn't work. So for me, I'm agreed with you, Mayor, that if we go full-time, I would like it to be Gretchen. If we went part-time, I'd like it to be her.

I'm not in favor of part-time.

I second that. I don't want a part-time person.

I think I'm feeling that way, too. I'm feeling like a full-time person.

But I'm only... I like the part-time idea only because with Eileen and I too, with her skill set and who she's connected to, that's going to give us a lot of access.

Resources. We're still connected to Amco, so we're still connected to a lot of what she's doing.

Yeah, but she's right there. And she's working on the water stuff that we're going to be getting into, which might benefit us because she's the one working on it.

And it gives the staff that breathing room.

There is that breathing room for them to get caught up.

I'm 50-50 on that because of the open door for the community, but the breathing room for the staff, I think is massively important as well.

I also think that if we explain to the community, you know, that the closing times, if we do go with the part-time, it would be temporary. I mean, we have to make that very clear that this is a temporary thing. We're not taking services or anything away from you. We just need to get some things organized to get a new city manager.

I wonder what Cole has to say about it. Counselor, what was it? I don't know. Is he there?

Oh, there I am. I actually kind of like the idea of Eileen too for part-time. Otherwise, I'm actually fully with you, Annette, on, oh, God, what was her name? Gretchen? Yeah. But I can see why it swings either way.

Okay.

Yeah. One thing for us to think about is, cause it's actually something we touched on the mayor, which I didn't think about until just now is community perception. You know, it's the city hall being open as one thing, like, you know, all the things we've mentioned, but there is an overarching goal this year that we've really beat the hammer on and it's getting this levy passed and city hall being inaccessible through a time period where we're trying to pass this. trust is already a little bit rocky on some things. And so if trust is eroded further in any way, I continue to worry about the risk of that passing becoming just a riskier proposition. I think somebody full-time in the seat who's present, if we're looking at that overarching goal, I think gives us a better shot at it passing. I just worry about us. It's not absenteeism, but perceived absenteeism from the community. It's already hard to get our message out, whether it's Ferris Street News, the many ways like coffee, things like that. We as individuals, we form our own assumptions and our own opinions really easily as humans. And I think that the risk of perceived absenteeism and you know, quote unquote mismanagement from somebody, you know, who's part-time in a city hall, partially closed. I just, I worry about that being a runaway train. I know it's not going to be the case, but it's really hard for us to make that argument, you know, to the folks who aren't listening, except for seeing when can I get what I need? And if the doors are closed and they can't get what they need, I think it's really easy for people to form their own opinions. So, yeah. I would just, I really, the more that we kind of talk about it, the more I'm kind of concerned about the part-time concept. Also, are we allowed to talk about availability at this moment in time? Yeah. Okay. So isn't Eileen, there's a month where she's completely virtual? No. That's when we're back to study. However, she said,

She doesn't want to because it's an obligation she made in the past. But if she said if she has to, she would put it aside. If that's... And I mean, if she's going to be here that long, then she might be able to find out.

She also is open or available to work virtually during that time.

Yeah, she's virtually available. We'll put her on a jumbo train.

Yeah. Right in the middle part of the gap.

It might be that the office needs to have some reduced hours, maybe after the levy vote. We don't want to go to I hadn't thought of that. Thank you for bringing that up. You know, so muddle through up to the levy vote and then maybe give the office some some breathing space after when she's not in there. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, that's a little bit scary. Well, he's planning to live and dating, which is nice, really nice.

Oh, Gretchen did say she lived there.

Yeah, that's what I mean. The more we talk about it, the more I'm going towards a hard time dating her personally.

We'll all entertain a motion if anybody's ready.

We would want to go around one by one and state our preference. I think that's a good idea. You going to kick us off? Well, you know, I really want to make sure this isn't about what I would want as my will, but really what we want as a city and that the will of the council and the involved parties are involved. I've looked at everybody to the best of my ability and where I wasn't here, but I'm with you guys for a part-time position. I think I may need to be fat, but she brings a lot to the table. But I really lean towards a full-time position with Gretchen. I really liked her quad. I liked her connectedness and her, and if you can be in a place like Fort Lauderdale for as long as she was in that huge county with all those, you know, $2 billion budget and still be a human being after all that, you know, I really think that says a lot for her. That's my choice if we do decide to go for that.

Yeah, I lean towards. I think there's a lot of benefit. The one hurdle is the visibility to the community. That's the one thing that kind of pushes me away from her a little bit. I am concerned with Gretchen because she is so used to this larger group. that coming into a smaller area, I don't know how that would, I mean, she might be brilliant at it. I did love her personality. I liked, again, how she just dissected every question she understood. It kind of reminded me a little bit of Jeremy. So yeah, I am split, personally split right down the middle between the two.

I think I would prefer a full-time. Yes. I just agree with all of that. I'm kind of split. But I think having a full-time person in the room, in the building, is where I am leaning just barely because I understand the advantages of having a human. So I guess push comes to shove, I would choose Gretchen as my first choice. I mean, a strong second if we wanted to contract out.

Council Wilkins, your preference. I'm kind of with the other three and I would lean more towards Gretchen because I would look more towards a full-time than a part-time position. All right, thank you.

I think if I take the people out of it and I just look at the positions themselves and specifically, I know I keep harping on this, but specifically the full-time search, a part-time plus a contract for searching versus a full-time and being able to do that in-house. I'm leaning into full-time and being able to do that in-house. I think it offers us so much more flexibility.

Yeah.

Councilor Mackin, full-time. Gretchen seems to be the one.

So, we need a motion for...

I move that we offer the position to Gretchen, and I have forgotten her last name. Cassini. Cassini. Cassini. Okay.

I'll second it. Right on. I have a motion from Councillor Mackin. And a second from Councilor Wilkins. Is there any more discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

All right, motion passes. We have our candidate that we would like to offer the interim position to. All right. Is there any other discussion we need to have tonight, Jeremy, or we'll have some more special meetings?

Does anybody have any key things?

Get out our calendars. I would need to look at specific days because I got a lot.

I don't think they're going to rest all day. It's Independence Day. It's the holidays. It's definitely not going to be available.

So if we did, because we're off all day on Friday at my work, I could do it during the middle of the day, but I can't do it in the evening because I would be doing fireworks stuff.

Yeah, I wouldn't be available. Sorry for that.

No, no, it's all right. Let's just look at the sixth. Okay. Can we get at least a quorum on the 6th?

I can do the 6th. Yes. 630, not 530. 530, 631. Yeah, that's fine. I can do 630. I can do 530. So July 6th, that's 630.

Isn't that our normal meeting anyway?

No. No? Our normal meeting is the same. It is 13. Okay. Come with me.

Would be it, but not in July. Okay.

Yeah.

Although I thought the introduction was the third Wednesday. First and third are Mondays, actually. We're doing it on the second Monday.

What are we?

The third. Talking about the city council meeting on the 13th?

Yeah. Isn't that the second Monday? Yeah, it's different from our normal first and third schedule. I'm not arguing it, just making note that our work sessions are normally the third Monday, and this one is different. In the past, the July meeting has been on the third Monday.

While we're talking about dates, I need to let Council know I'll be on state July 21st through the 28th, and then August 24th through the 27th.

Oh, I will be available Zoom August, if we do August. Was it 2nd, 3rd? Yeah, I'll be available for Zoom on that day.

Okay. So July 6th, we're on for that, is that the thing? Okay.

That's a thing.

That's a thing. Cool.

Thank you. I move that we adjourn.

I second.

All right.

We are adjourned. 644. Thank you, everybody.

Yeah, have a good night.

You as well. Thank you.