Minutes - 20090330 - Manager Search

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Commissioner Hemminger said time is of the essence and we have had good experiences with the Mercer group. And we want candidates with N.C. experience. Chair Foushee agreed and she has worked with the Mercer group when she worked for Chapel Hill as well as here in Orange County. Commissioner Pelissier asked if an RFP was done with the last manager and Board members replied yes. Commissioner Jacobs said the advantage of having a different firm do the search is that that the Board could have access to a different pool of applicants. His hesitation with Mercer is concern about not getting a different pool of applicants this time. Commissioner Pelissier suggested the Board ask Mercer to expand their pool of applicants this time around and Chair Foushee said they could ask for a clean pool of applicants. Commissioner Yuhasz asked how long did the RFP process take and Board members responded about two months. Commissioner Jacobs said after that, the Board worked with the consultant Commissioner Nelson arrived at 7:15 PM . Commissioner Yuhasz said adding another 60-90 days to the process if the Board uses an RFP process to select a consultant will be not be helpful unless there are issues with the Mercer group now. Commissioner Hemminger said that Laura Blackmon will be leaving June 301h Commissioner Gordon said the Commissioners need to consider when the Board wants this person to start. Commissioners may want an interim manager to start with. Do they want overlap time with the present manager? Commissioner Pelissier said the Board doesn't know what they will face with budget issues with the next year, and it will behoove the commissioners to get a manager in place by the end of the year and to forget about the RFP and go with a firm as soon as possible. Commissioner Hemminger said not to do an RFP. Commissioner Jacobs said the Board should stick with the Mercer group and be explicit as to the pool of applicants they want to see. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to hire the Mercer group to do the search and request a local N.C. representative from their firm and to also ask The Mercer Group to exclude any applicants from the previous search. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner Yuhasz said he would like to see what the Mercer group would suggest as to what was advertised before from a professional standpoint.