PALM COAST — Representatives from two search firms competing for the contract to conduct a nationwide search for Palm Coast’s next city manager made their respective sales pitches to City Council members on Tuesday.
City Manager Jim Landon is set to retire in August 2019 and elected officials are planning to hire a consultant to oversee the hunt for his replacement. City officials began soliciting bids from executive search firms in February and have selected two finalists.
Representatives from Strategic Government Resources, or SGR, a firm just outside Dallas, Texas, and Springsted-Waters, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based company, gave overviews during a morning workshop of how they plan to recruit the city’s next chief of staff.
Doug Thomas, a senior vice president of SGR, touted "five keys to a successful search" that would include a specialized brochure and marketing, as well as a social media campaign to attract prospective candidates. Thomas, a former municipal executive who spent 12 years as Lakeland’s city manager before retiring from government in 2015, said 79 percent of job hunters use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in their searches. He noted that most organizations use job alerts on those sites to catch the eyes of “passive candidates.”
“A good portion of candidates that will apply for this position don’t really think they’re candidates, or active candidates,” he said. His company's pitch also included a "no billing surprises" price range "not to exceed" $18,500 for professional fees and $9,500 for "expenses for proposed comprehensive executive search process."
Meanwhile, two senior vice presidents from Springsted-Waters explained their firm’s offerings. Art Davis, a former city manager in Missouri, highlighted the extensive screening process Springsted uses to vet candidates. Patricia Heminover said their company is one of the largest executive search firms in the public sector, having conducted more than 1,500 searches in 40 different states over the course of 30 years.
Davis said their team would work with the city to stake out the council’s top three to five priorities for the next city manager, something that could draw the interest of candidates who may be happily employed in other jobs.
“This is going to be a very attractive position for folks looking to move to Florida, but also for Florida applicants,” Davis said. “However, you don’t always want just people that are looking for jobs. You want folks that have been in good positions for the past five to 10 years and have accomplished a lot of important tasks and priorities for their current community.”
Neither Davis nor Heminover mentioned the cost of their company's services as part of their pitch.
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland was adamant that she’s looking to recruit “non-traditional candidates” and asked both firms what they would do to lure skilled executive prospects who may not currently be working in public sector.
“I don’t not want to see the traditional ‘let’s put an ad in the Florida League of Cities, let’s put an ad in the Florida Association of Counties’ because we could do that very easily,” she said. “I think what we’re looking for is that value ad from a firm that could help us navigate through an employment system for the non-traditional candidates.”
Thomas estimated that 45 to 60 candidates would apply for the position once openings are posted on job boards, in magazines, newsletters, social media sites and elsewhere. Thomas said it typically takes SGR about 12 weeks to complete searches, while Springsted-Waters reps estimated about four months.
Council members were expected to select one of the consultants during their June 5 meeting. But Councilman Nick Klufas noted that representatives from Magellan Advisors, a high-tech, Denver-based consultant that specializes in creating "smart cities," will be in town next week to meet with officials with the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce. He proposed that city officials schedule a meeting with those reps while they are here and ask if they’re aware of any tech-savvy candidates who might be able to help bolster the city's technological infrastructure.
"They deal with cities that are facing the same problems as ours across the country," Klufas said. "Whether it’s a simple yes or no, they may have someone who is exactly what we’re looking for — the Elon Musk/Warren Buffet type person — because of the specific field of work that their in."