MONROE - The Monroe Common Council has started a second round to find a new city administrator, this time with the professional help of a hiring firm.
Council members Monday voted 5-4 to hire a professional firm to find qualifying administrator candidates. Alderman Thurston Hanson was absent.
Aldermen Michael Boyce, Mike Rivers, Charles Schuringa and Paul Hannes voted not to hire a firm.
Boyce took the lead to advocate that city council members could do the hiring and save the city money, by following a process detailed in a publication by the International City/County Management Association, he said.
Mayor Bill Ross also advised council members to do the hiring themselves, which he said could save $15,000 t0 $20,000. He proposed a committee to narrow the list of qualified candidates, and offered to serve on that committee.
Aldermen Jan Lefevre, Charles Koch, Keith Ingwell, Dan Henke and Neal Hunter voted to hire a firm.
Henke maintained that a hiring firm would provide better legal protection for the city and the candidates during the hiring process, and would actually save the city money.
Council President Koch agreed, noting that the recent process of hiring a Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent took "three times longer than it should have."
"First, a lot of qualified candidates won't apply directly (to the city) because they don't want their names out there. Second, an employment agency can do a lot of research to find out qualifications so we don't have to go through a lot of resumes to begin with," he said.
Koch also suggested that the city could add the use of its own resources to check into candidates' qualifications and backgrounds.
Ingwell, Lefevre and Schuringa insisted that the hiring be a full council process, with or without a hiring firm.
"I don't want what happened in the past - no big secrets," said Schuringa, chairman of the Salary & Personnel Committee. "We need to know what is happening."
Schuringa indicated that during the last attempt to hire an administrator council members sometimes didn't know what discussions would be about until they got to the meetings.
City Clerk Carol Stamm was charged with the duty of finding several professional hiring firms, but no schedule was set for interviewing them.
A preliminary list of firms she put together for the council last summer showed hiring firms charged between $3,500 to $18,500.
Deciding which firms to ask to meet with council members will not be easy, she said, in an interview after Monday's meeting.
"I will probably consult with Bill (Ross) or Chuck (Schuringa)," she said.
Stamm said she might pull from the list the firm charging $3,500; a quote she said doesn't look as if it will fulfill the council's requirements.
The administrator's list of duties has been cleared of legal responsibilities.
The council tried last year to fill a position of "administrator with legal duties," but members voted 6-4 in special session Dec. 4 not to offer a contract to their candidate of choice, City Attorney Rex Ewald.
Prior to their discussion and vote Monday, council members met with Nick Owen, Administrator for the Village of New Glarus; Ed Henschel, Executive Director of the Wisconsin City/County Management Association (WCMA); and Richard A. Farrenkopf, a "range rider" for the WCMA, and who has 45 years of municipal service, including 22 years in Menomonee Falls.
Owen, Henschel and Farrenkopf explained the qualifications, duties and responsibilities of city administrators, as well as answered council members' questions about hiring.
Henschel said the most important duty of a city administrator would be budgeting and finance, followed by skills in good personnel relationships and economic development.
Hiring an administrator would most likely take four to six months, he said.
The city has been without an administrator since May 2008.
Council members Monday voted 5-4 to hire a professional firm to find qualifying administrator candidates. Alderman Thurston Hanson was absent.
Aldermen Michael Boyce, Mike Rivers, Charles Schuringa and Paul Hannes voted not to hire a firm.
Boyce took the lead to advocate that city council members could do the hiring and save the city money, by following a process detailed in a publication by the International City/County Management Association, he said.
Mayor Bill Ross also advised council members to do the hiring themselves, which he said could save $15,000 t0 $20,000. He proposed a committee to narrow the list of qualified candidates, and offered to serve on that committee.
Aldermen Jan Lefevre, Charles Koch, Keith Ingwell, Dan Henke and Neal Hunter voted to hire a firm.
Henke maintained that a hiring firm would provide better legal protection for the city and the candidates during the hiring process, and would actually save the city money.
Council President Koch agreed, noting that the recent process of hiring a Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent took "three times longer than it should have."
"First, a lot of qualified candidates won't apply directly (to the city) because they don't want their names out there. Second, an employment agency can do a lot of research to find out qualifications so we don't have to go through a lot of resumes to begin with," he said.
Koch also suggested that the city could add the use of its own resources to check into candidates' qualifications and backgrounds.
Ingwell, Lefevre and Schuringa insisted that the hiring be a full council process, with or without a hiring firm.
"I don't want what happened in the past - no big secrets," said Schuringa, chairman of the Salary & Personnel Committee. "We need to know what is happening."
Schuringa indicated that during the last attempt to hire an administrator council members sometimes didn't know what discussions would be about until they got to the meetings.
City Clerk Carol Stamm was charged with the duty of finding several professional hiring firms, but no schedule was set for interviewing them.
A preliminary list of firms she put together for the council last summer showed hiring firms charged between $3,500 to $18,500.
Deciding which firms to ask to meet with council members will not be easy, she said, in an interview after Monday's meeting.
"I will probably consult with Bill (Ross) or Chuck (Schuringa)," she said.
Stamm said she might pull from the list the firm charging $3,500; a quote she said doesn't look as if it will fulfill the council's requirements.
The administrator's list of duties has been cleared of legal responsibilities.
The council tried last year to fill a position of "administrator with legal duties," but members voted 6-4 in special session Dec. 4 not to offer a contract to their candidate of choice, City Attorney Rex Ewald.
Prior to their discussion and vote Monday, council members met with Nick Owen, Administrator for the Village of New Glarus; Ed Henschel, Executive Director of the Wisconsin City/County Management Association (WCMA); and Richard A. Farrenkopf, a "range rider" for the WCMA, and who has 45 years of municipal service, including 22 years in Menomonee Falls.
Owen, Henschel and Farrenkopf explained the qualifications, duties and responsibilities of city administrators, as well as answered council members' questions about hiring.
Henschel said the most important duty of a city administrator would be budgeting and finance, followed by skills in good personnel relationships and economic development.
Hiring an administrator would most likely take four to six months, he said.
The city has been without an administrator since May 2008.