Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-07-12 City Council (13)City of Palo Alto C ty Manager’s Report TO: FROM: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE 9 DATE: SUBJECT: JULY 12, 2004 CMR:345:04 RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCIL/COUNCIL APPOINTED OFFICERS (CAO) COMMITTEE REGARDING INTERVIEWS FOR A CONSULTANT TO FACILITATE CAO EVALUATIONS RECOMMENDATION The Council/CAO Committee recommends that the Council interview John Shannon of CPS Human Resources Services and Susan Quinn of The Quinn Company for the role of facilitator for the Council’s evaluation of the CAOs. COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS On June 24, 2004, the Council/CAO Committee reviewed the four responses received for the Request for Proposal to facilitate CAO evaluations. The Committee asked that interviews with Susan Quinn and John Shannon be scheduled with the full Council. The Committee recommended that, if the Council did not find either of the two candidates acceptable or wanted to do more interviews, that those be scheduled after the initial interviews. The Committee reviewed proposed questions for the interview. recommended questions are attached. The Committee’s RESOURCE IMPACT Staff believes the full cost of the contract should not exceed $~~. PREPARED BY "~ ~f ~~ Emily’~Ylarrison, Assistant~it~ Manager CITY MANAGER APPROVALFra~~~~~7~nk’~nest, City Manager CMR:345:04 Page 1 of 2 ATTACHlVlENTS Recommended Interview Questions MinUtes: June 24 Council/CAO Committee meeting CMR:345:04 Page 2 of 2 Interview questions Facilitator - Council\CAO Evaluation Process Having reviewed the description of desired services in the Request for Proposal, please discuss what you see as the benefits of the approach being considered, and what the challenges may be. Describe your role and the roles of your key staff members in the review and facilitation process. In this process, please describe how you see your working relationship (coordination, reporting) will work with the City Council. Similarly, describe how you see your working relationship with the CAOs. Please describe similar experiences you have had providing evaluation/facilitation services to other public agencies and, if applicable, to cities. Please describe what you see to be the challenges in carrying out this proposal. How would you handle the situation in which there was a large divergence in the information you are receiving from the various council members? How would you handle the situation in which there was a large divergence between the perceptions of the council member and an individual CAO? The consultant provides information for the council in the compensation process but is expected to only act as a resource in its discussion on compensation. How would you see your role if the council was having difficulty in agreeing on an approach to compensation? Do you have any suggestions for changes in the facilitation plan that we’ve provided that would either enhance or streamline the overall process? Special Meeting June 25, 2004 The Council/Council Appointed Officer (CAO) Committee met this date in the Council Conference Room at 9:04 A.M. PRESENT: Mossar, Ojakian, Burch ABSENT: Kishimoto Oral Communications None. Screening of Responses to Request for Proposals for Facilitator for CAO Evaluations Chair Dena Mossar noted the RFP was issued on June 7, 2004, and four proposals were received from the following" 1) John Shannon, CPS Human Resources Services; 2) Robert Burg, Ralph Andersen & Associates; 3) Martin Nelson, Sr., Taylor Nelson; and 4) Susan Quinn, The Quinn Company. She stated she would like to narrow the number of proposers to be interviewed to two. There would not be interviews on Monday, June 28, as noted on the agenda. A revised Council agenda would be issued. Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison referred to the matrix, which compared the four proposals. City Auditor Sharon Erickson stated the three CAOs (City Auditor, City Clerk, and City Manager) met and reviewed the responses, and John Shannon is the only one who has’the facilitation experience and has done it repeatedly for many public agencies. City Manager Frank Benest noted that although Ralph Andersen and Associates had experience, their proposed Project Director for this ~assignment, Robert Burg, Executive Vice President, has not had specific experience in recruitment and facilitation. Chair Mossar added that conflict of interest issues were previously evaluated and it was agreed the RFP would not be issued to firms who had recently worked with Palo Alto. Although John Shannon had been the recruiter for Sharon Erickson, the Committee determined that enough time had elapsed so that there wasn’t a conflict of interest. Council Member Ojakian asked if staff had worked with any of the other consultants in the past. Ms. Harrison said they had not, but tried to do as wide a distribution of the RFP as possible. Council Member Ojakian said the City had worked with John Shannon, who had prepared The Shannon Report in the mid-90s. He is comfortable with Mr. Shannon’s firm, but was also interested in Susan Quinn’s proposal. Chair Mossar said aside from John Shannon’s experience, she wasn’t sure that all proposers understood the task. In future years, when a process had been established it would be possible to hire someone without experience. She said at this stage, Council could interview John Shannon and Susan Quinn, or just interview John Shannon. If the Council did want to contract with John Shannon they could interview someone else or go out for another RFP. Council Members Burch and Ojakian noted they were comfortable interviewing both Shannon and Quinn. Chair Mossar said this would allow for Council to haVe a broader discussion and have a chance to look at the low proposal. Ms. Harrison stated the contract with the successful consultant would be negotiated after Council interviews the candidates. Mr. Benest referred to the proposed list of interview questions and suggested a question be asked regarding what are the benefits of this approach and what are the challenges. 2 Herb Borock, P.O. Box 632, noted that Taylor Nelson did not provide the necessary insurance information to be a responsive bidder. Chair Mossar suggested that since the consultant would be working for theCouncil, but would also have a coordinating role with the CAOs, a question should be added to clarify their understanding of that relationship and how they would handle the reporting and coordinating. Council Member Ojakian noted that questions 5 and 6 are important, as they talk about "divergence." Ms. Erickson said she appreciates the question suggested by Mr. Benest. Ms. Harrison agreed to substitute the City Manager’s suggested question for. the first one on the list. She stated there is no date for the interviews at this stage. Chair Mossar referred to the Consultants Ranking Form and added that individual council members have the right to state they like a consultant who wasn’t approved for interviewing by the Committee. If council members believe other consultants have strength, they can rate them accordingly. She recommended a memo from the Committee to their colleagues advising that John Shannon and Susan Quinn will be interviewed to begin the process, but Council Members may determine after interviewing that they want to do more interviews. Ms. Harrison stated she would draft a memo for places at the Council meeting on Monday, June 28, 2004. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m.