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By Pauline Masson –
Well, Glory Be. The city administrative committee not only listened to Alderman Rick Presley’s January 16 call for a slower search for a permanent city administrator, they ironed out details of his request that the city announce pay, residency requirements, perks to attract qualified candidates and an estimated starting time for the new city manager.
The committee, chaired by James Cleeve and including Debbie Kelley, Rafael Madrigal and Mayor Heather Filley met January 29 with two items on the agenda: shut offs and fees for late payment of city water bills and the city administrator search.
Presley had voiced disappointment in the committee’s January 16 approval of a city administrator job description and language to be used in an ad posting the job opening.
He said the two documents fell short of the information prospective candidates would need to determine whether they might want to come to Pacific.
The January 29 discussion worked out all the details Presley requested, and them some.
The committees recommendations will have to go to the full board of aldermen (BOA) February 6 to be adopted by ordinance as city policy.
But the crux of the city’s search details are as follows:
Pay: If approved by the full BOA, the city would offer candidates starting pay between $90,000 and $120,000, based on experience and qualifications.
Residency: The city would prefer that the new city administrator live within the city limits, but would agree that they can live within a thirty-mile radius of the city.
Moving expenses: The city would pay up to $5,000 in moving expenses, but only if the new manager moves to a residence within the city limits.
Although the application review process was not finalized, Cleeve suggested that the city install an email address at [email protected] so applications would be sent to that site rather than be sent to an individual.
The posting would be left up for eight weeks. If no one applies for the position after eight weeks, the city would consider contracting with a professional recruiting firm to attract candidates.
This would put the selection process well past the April municipal election and possible seating of new aldermen as Presley had hoped for.
Debbie Kelley said she would like to see the new administrator hired by June to give interim administrator Harold Selby time to train the individual as the new budget goes into effect. Selby said he would like to fulfill his one-year contract and stay in the position until August.
The full discussion was recorded and can be viewed on the city’s web page. The recommendations will go to the full BOA at the February 6 meeting.
Idea on the residency of the City Administrator.
When Selby came to town, he literally did move to Pacific. Then when he moved on eventually to St. James, he moved not within the city limits, but not too far away.
A good candidate might see nearby country living on acreage as an advantage, but the city itself doesn’t have much acreage inside it. Thirty miles is too far to be involved in the town. I drove 32 miles to work, and that was to work at 19th and Olive in downtown St. Louis. No way could they understand the ins and outs of our town and immediately surrounding area.
I suggest the candidate be asked to live in the Meramec Valley R-III School District. That would give a good compromise between having to be in a house in town or somewhere in the “general vicinity.”
Jo Schaper