Council Looks to Cast Wide Net in City Manager Search, Find Candidate With Public Safety Experience

The East Lansing City Council expressed a desire that the next city manager have experience working with public safety and strong problem-solving skills. Additionally, the Council asked that a wide net be cast in the search during a Wednesday, April 19, meeting specially convened to discuss the matter.

At the meeting held in Courtroom 2 of 54B District Court, Council met with Michigan Municipal League (MML) Executive Recruiter Joyce Parker. Parker will lead the search for the city’s next city manager and took feedback from council members about the kind of candidate they’d prefer.

Preferred candidates will have experience in public safety.

Council members stressed the importance of finding a candidate who has experience working with public safety or emergency response.

Interim City Manager Randy Talifarro was seated in the audience and listened for most of the meeting but spoke up when Mayor Ron Bacon said he would like to have a candidate that has experience working with public safety.

Talifarro agreed the public safety aspect is important in the role, as East Lansing often has to work with emergency response teams from several different jurisdictions. Specifically, Talifarro mentioned protests and large events that require a heavy presence from public safety officials. He said a background in emergency management is key for the job.

Councilmember George Brookover asked if most city managers have responsibilities regarding public safety, and Parker said they usually do, but there are some exceptions.

Brookover said the necessity of working with Michigan State University’s public safety department and security concerns caused by students rioting after sports games makes public safety especially important.

“We make the Final Four more than you do,” Brookover joked with the Ann Arbor-based Parker. “When there’s a Final Four, public safety is a big deal.”

Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg wants a problem solver in the city manager position.

When discussing desired traits a candidate would have, Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg said she would like to find a candidate who can think outside the box.

Gregg said serving during a “tumultuous” three-and-a-half years has made it evident to her that finding someone who is able to come up with creative solutions will be key. She mentioned the pandemic as an example of an unpredictable event the city had to react to.

“Coming out of the pandemic and realizing that the office sector might not exist anymore, that’s not something that we saw coming three-and-a-half years ago and now it’s really a reality,” she said. “Someone that can kind of roll with that [is desired].”

Brookover said having experience in “creative problem solving” could be a way to phrase that as a desired skill in a job ad.

Council agrees it is best to cast a wide net in search of candidates.

Multiple members of the Council agreed it is best to do a broad search and asked Parker to look for candidates around the country.

Additionally, council members did not want to set too stringent requirements regarding education or years of experience.

Parker said most communities have bachelor’s degrees required and master’s degrees desired. Postings for department heads in East Lansing typically have bachelor’s degrees required and master’s degrees preferred. Gregg said it made sense to have the city manager have at least the same credentials as department heads.

Parker also said most cities look for people with at least five to seven years of relevant experience and seek people who have worked in a senior management position, like a department head, or as a city manager or assistant city manager. She added some candidates may have worked in township or county government.

“[City manager is] not a training position,” she said.

Parker said many cities don’t mandate a master’s degree because some candidates may check a lot of boxes off – but miss on the education requirement. Bacon said he isn’t “wed” to a candidate with a master’s degree.

Parker, who will take the first look at applications, said she typically looks at not only the size of a city a candidate has worked in, but also the complexity. She mentioned the types of industry in the area they worked and whether they worked with a student population as potential considerations.

Multiple council members expressed a desire to be flexible with the size of the city a candidate has worked in.

“I think you might have a really good up and coming candidate who is younger and they’re in a smaller community,” Brookover said. “I don’t want them to shy away from applying for East Lansing because they’ve only been in a place with 12,000 people.”

Council members also expressed interest in giving candidates that possess certification from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) a boost. Parker said this is the main organization that certifies city managers.

“What that primarily means is that you meet a certain standard,” she said. “That you’ve worked as a city manager for so many years in the profession… They do an assessment to determine your experience.”

Parker said many city managers are certified and she believes it is a good credential for candidates to have. However, becoming certified is a lengthy process, which may keep it off some candidates’ resume. Bacon suggested they list the certification as a “desired” trait from candidates.

Bacon also made the point that it is important that Council not set too strict requirements because that would limit the amount of direct recruitment Parker can do within the MML’s network.

A tentative timeline for search has been laid out.

Parker went over a tentative timeline for how the city manager search will unfold.

The first part of the process involves putting together profiles on what a desired candidate would look like and what the job would entail. This allows for the construction of a job posting and for information to be provided to potential candidates.

Parker offered to send a summary of what she understood from Council a desired candidate will look like, so council members can make changes or recommendations before a job posting is made.

She estimated profiles will be ready by May 4.

Next, MML will advertise the position for a time period of at least four weeks. She said ads could be placed in the MML’s classified section and through ICMA and other organizations related to city management. She said advertising can also be done through social media and direct recruitment.

After the position is advertised, MML will review resumes, put together a report and select finalists. She believes that process will take about two weeks.

Parker clarified resumes will be sent to MML and she will evaluate them based on requirements set by Council. She will put together a report that is provided to the city summarizing how candidates compare with requirements. Additionally, Parker will put together a short list of recommended candidates that should be interviewed.

“I make that determination through a process where I interview each one of the candidates in detail, really getting involved with your requirements, getting more information other than what is on the resume,” Parker said.

Parker said she will add candidates to the short list if Council requests she pull someone from the report. She will also do reference checks with candidates considered finalists.

Candidates will remain anonymous until they are extended an interview. Parker said this is to protect candidates in terms of their current employment and to keep the process neutral. She estimated interviews and reference checks will take about three weeks.

Councilmember Noel Garcia asked for more information on MML’s background check.

“Locally, we dealt with some issues with a background check that wasn’t so detailed,” he said in an apparent reference to recently departed East Lansing High School Principal Shannon Mayfield.

Parker said after a conditional offer is extended to a candidate, MML will work with another company to conduct a comprehensive background check that examines civil and criminal issues, social security numbers, a credit check, credentials and other specific criteria that is requested by Council.

Assuming a candidate passes a background check and agrees to a contract, a starting date will then be determined. Parker said it is common for new employees to need four weeks to transition from their current work to the new position.