CLAREMONT — A week after the city council discussed the process of finding a new city manager, the council on Wednesday authorized Mayor Dale Girard to sign a contract with the professional recruiting firm, Municipal Resources Inc. of Plymouth, N.H.
The council agreed on June 30 in an 8-1 vote that the best path forward is to hire MRI, which will also attempt to find an interim manager, rather than conduct the hiring process in-house. City Manager Nancy Bates submitted her resignation last month and will leave the job July 24.
At last week’s meeting, the city’s human resources director, Shannon Thibodeau, presented the council with a few different ideas to conduct a search in house, including using the online job search platforms Linkedin or Indeed. The council quickly focused on Linkedin as the preferred choice because of the existing contract with the city that runs to January. Thibodeau said the city has access to Linkedin’s recruiter database and the city can post up to three jobs. Several city employees found their jobs on Linkedin, including Gina Gavan, the city’s new planning and development director.
“We have the ability to reach out to candidates that match certain key words,” Thibodeau said.
Indeed was seen as a place for more blue collar jobs and was not discussed by the council.
Thibodeau’s job would not be involved in anything more than a “pass through” to the council for prospective city managers.
Girard said he was confident Thibodeau could handle the extra workload but he cautioned about putting additional demands on her. Girard also said the council will be in a “horrible position” if it doesn;t get an interim on board and said MRI could help in that area as well.
Initially, using Linkedin for a 30-day period appealed to several councilors. They said it would not only save the city money but would allow the process to start immediately. They also said Linkedin could perhaps cast a wider net in terms of potential candidates than MRI and so it was worth at least a 30-day effort.
“I think we have a bigger net with Linkedin,” councilor Chris Irish said. “ Let’s give this a shot for 30 days and see where it goes. We have nothing to lose.”
The last search using MRI did not result in any candidates that the council accepted, said councilor William Limoges, adding his preference for Linkedin.
As the discussion continued, most councilors came around to agreeing with Girard and supported an agreement with MRI. Girard said the company, in the last year and a half, has found city managers for the New Hampshire municipalities of Franklin, Somersworth and Lebanon. He also said viable candidates may not seek employment through Linkedin.
“A lof of candidates won’t apply it if is not through a professional agency,” Girard said. “By hiring a professional firm they would start the process of interviewing all nine of us and department heads to get an idea of what we are looking for.”
Councilor Nick Koloski also supported the hiring of MRI. He worried that doing it in-house with the council taking the lead could “muck things up.”
Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau recalled recent past searches with the city going it alone with a committee of residents.
“We did not have a professional with knowledge to do it the correct way,” Matteau said. “I think having a professional involved is going to help especially if they can get a professional interim. I want a professional so this group of nine isn’t doing the vetting. I just think that is going to be problematic.”
Throughout the discussion, Irish remained insistent that the entire council should take the lead role and he voted against contracting with MRI. He said the nine councilors know the city better than anyone and they should be the ones to consider applicants from the start, not MRI.
“Why don’t we just man up and take this on as a council and do what we are supposed to do,” Irish said.
The majority though favored MRI because of their expertise. Councilor Wayne Hemingway said he did not see it as the council “shirking” its duties.
“It is a matter of someone giving us the most qualified people to sit in front of us and the nine of us will decide,” Hemingway said.
The next hire will be the city’s fifth, full-time manager since 2016. Two managers — Ryan McNutt and Yoshi Manale — were fired and two, Ed Morris and Bates, resigned.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
