CLEARLAKE — Interim City Administrator Stephen Albright received consensus of the Clearlake City Council Thursday to proceed with the recruitment process associated with hiring a permanent city administrator. The process, which includes five phases, is expected to take about three and a half months.
Albright was given consensus to proceed with the recruitment phase, which entails advertising for the postion. He recommends placement of advertisement in online sources including area media and Craigslist as well as in this print publication, which he identified as the local newspaper of general circulation.
Albright also recommends advertisement in the Jobs Available statewide public sector jobs publication; the Westen Cities, a monthly publication of the League of California Cities; and the ICMA monthly magazine. He said the proposed budget for the recruitment phase is $1,500.
Albright said based on the publication deadlines, it is anticipated the end date for filing an application would be approximately March 25. He said the ultimate goal should be to have a new city administrator hired and ready to begin work by June 1 or soon thereafter.
The screening process will follow the recruitment phase. Albright said at a minimum, applicants should be required to provide a letter of interest, a current application and some number of professionally-related references. He recommends a sub-committee consisting of two council members be established that would review the candidates with him.
Albright said there should not be a pre-determined number of applicants considered for the third phase of interviewing. He said it should be based on the number of qualified applicants and the willingness of the council member to sit through multiple interviews. He recommends that the entire council be present for all interviews, which would require public notifications of closed sessions.
The selection phase to follow will entail council agreement on the top candidate, then reference and background checks. He said for cost effectiveness, it may be best to do these checks after some basic contract negotiations have been conducted but before a contract is publicly approved.
The final phase of actual contract negotiation he said would require a number of important decisions be made in advance. He said the council will need to decide on a salary level, benefits package, whether or not any moving or housing allowance will be offered and the terms of the contract such as length and terms.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
