HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-10 BOS-min
Selectmen-May 10, 2018
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SELECTMEN'S MEETING
Thursday, May 10, 2018
A meeting of the Lexington Board of Selectmen was called to order at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday,
May 10, 2018 in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room of the Town Office Building. Ms. Barry, Chair;
Mr. Pato; Ms. Ciccolo; Mr. Lucente; and Ms. Hai were present as well as Mr. Valente, Town
Manager; Ms. Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Ms. Graglia-Kostos, Human
Resources Director; Ms. Dahlberg, Procurement Officer; Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk for
the Board of Selectmen; and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary.
Approve Town Manager Executive Search Firm—Request for Quotations (RFQ)
The Selectmen agreed to add information about these features to page 3 of the RFQ:
Lexington’s Triple A bond rating;
The visitor-based economy;
The large school-age and senior populations;
Update population and median income statistics and cite their sources;
Diverse, welcoming, inclusive community;
Commitment to sustainability;
“Aggressive commitment” to Capital investment in public resources and the number of
projects now at various stages;
More information about the commercial tax base;
Budgetary information including Operating and the EQV/taxing capacity (possibly
attached as an appendix document);
Number of employees;
Number of departments and committees.
Mr. Valente said the chosen consultant will also gather detailed data so the Board need not be
exhaustive on these points.
Ms. Hai and Mr. Valente will craft the statement about Capital investment to be included.
Ms. Barry noted that consultant submissions for the RFQ are to be received by Ms. Dahlberg’s
office by Friday, May 25, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Because the procurement will not exceed $50,000,
a short timeline is acceptable.
On page 4 of the RFQ, under specifically required information, the Board agreed to add wording
that will make it clear that consultants must identify candidates who have worked for
municipalities of “comparable size and complexity”.
About page 5, Ms. Hai asked whether it would be wise to ask whether the consultants are
currently working with other communities who also want to hire a Town Manager. Ms. Dahlberg
said there are not many consultants who work in this area and they all are aware that people
looking for these top management jobs will interview with multiple communities in a given
region. Question about conflict of interest and consultant availability can be posed during the
interview process to assure the candidate can devote full attention to Lexington.
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Mr. Lucente asked about the process for consultants to submit questions, as specified on page 6
of the RFQ, and if the Board would need to convene to address them. Ms. Dahlberg said she will
collect the questions but she clarified that Lexington is not required to answer them. The cut-off
date for question submissions is Friday, May 18, 2018, a week before RFQ bid is due. The Board
designated Ms. Barry, as Chair, to respond to questions.
Ms. Hai and Mr. Lucente recommended softening the firm timeline language to indicated that the
consultant will “make every effort to complete the contract within 12 weeks.” They also
recommended mention of the completion date be moved to the beginning of the section.
Ms. Hai said she would also like to state that the consultant will perform “outreach to and
recruitment from” established professional networks. Mr. Valente said he would wordsmith the
bullet the above points to reflect the Board’s consensus.
Ms. Dahlberg said she commonly inserts the minimum criteria section into the RFQ document
before the Scope of Services, so there is a logical flow from “required” to “preferred”. Mr.
Valente recommended changing the title of the “Qualifications” section to “Minimum
Requirements” for greater clarity. The Board agreed the document is short enough so the section
need not be moved.
Mr. Lucente and Ms. Ciccolo said they want the RFQ to be clear on the role of the consultant
versus the role of Town staff. Mr. Valente said the negotiation over fee will include a discussion
of roles. He suggested the document be left open-ended in this area. Ms. Ciccolo recommended
moving this text close to the section on Fees; Mr. Lucente recommended saying that “some” of
the administrative functions “may” be performed by Town staff, out of deference to Human
Resources workload concerns expressed by Mr. Valente.
Ms. Hai said the specification of “three community events” the consultant would organize for
finalists might not be sufficient. Ms. Ciccolo and Ms. Barry said the number would be part of
the negotiation with the consultant. Mr. Valente asked if site visits to the candidates’ current
towns would be part of the organized meetings the consultants would be responsible for.
Consensus was reached to add site visits to the bullet points and to discuss the matter during
negotiations.
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Under “Timeline”, Ms. Barry pointed out that June 4 needs to be used consistently through the
document as the date for consultant interviews. Ms. Ciccolo recommended that back-up dates be
chosen as well as well as times of day for the meetings.
How the process will coordinate input was discussed. Board members agreed that determining
the qualities of the ideal candidate was ultimately the Selectman’s role, taking into account input
from Screening Committee. Boards/Committee, Senior Management, employees, and other
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interested community members. It was clarified that the June 15 consultant meeting will
include the Board of Selectmen only.
Ms. Hai asked if the Town expects to cover travel expenses for prospective candidates. Mr.
Valente agreed that consultants will ask this question and the Board will have to decide and vote
on the matter beforehand. The Board should also discuss remote interviews with the Screening
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Committee. Ms. Barry said she would include these items on a future Selectmen’s agenda.
Ms. Dahlberg recommended removing the word “quotes” from page 1 so as not to appear
obligated to accept the lowest bid. Also, before the consultants are interviewed, the Board needs
to determine which questions will be asked so that the same ones are posed to each consultant,
although she noted that additional clarification questions are permitted for each consultant.
Mr. Valente said the Board can be provided with a list of starting point questions to discuss and
revise. Ms. Barry will put this item on the Selectmen’s agenda for May 29, 2018. Ms. Dahlberg
said the questions could be discussed in Executive Session if the Board so chooses. Mr. Valente
said it might be helpful for the public to hear and comment on the questions, although it is the
Board’s prerogative to decide.
Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, said her past experience in Town Manager searches leads her
to recommend that all materials go through the Board of Selectmen’s Office, rather than Human
Resources or Procurement. She also suggested that the Board ask the consultant candidates if
they have done any previous recruitment work for Lexington; she would also ask for a list of the
other Town Manager searches they are currently conducting. Ms. McKenna recommended
making the number of community listening sessions clear and consistent throughout the RFQ.
She said the Selectmen may want to reserve the opportunity to meet both collectively and
individually with Town Manager candidates; if so, language should be added to this effect. She
recommended adding flexibility into the timeline so that the completion date is identified as the
date on which the new Town Manager accepts and signs an offer. Ms. McKenna suggested
adding a catch-all line for flexibility to indicate that the consultant will address “other tasks as
the Selectmen may decide.”
Mr. Pato approved of the completion date rewording as suggested by Ms. McKenna as well as
language about re-opening the search, if needed. Ms. Ciccolo said there is a percentage or dollar
figure over which the Town cannot go without rebidding the contract so reopening the search
may not be possible within the initial agreement. Mr. Valente recommended that language be
added to so that the consultant is committed to the terms of the contract “up to and including
acceptance of the employment agreement by the successful candidate.”
Mr. Lucente said he would like the Town Manager search plan to be devised “in consultation
with and approved by” the Selectmen before the chosen consultant launches the search. The
Board concurred.
Mr. Lucente asked about the bidding process and how it would be conducted. Ms. Dahlberg
explained that some steps of the process are public but not others. The timing of the opening the
qualifications and pricing bids is orchestrated to be separate and a cost/benefit analysis is done
after all questions have been settled. Bids are opened simultaneously by the Screening Team.
Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, again urged that all the Town Manager material be handled
by the Selectmen’s Office only.
Ms. Pato said the process Ms. Dahlberg described would be under the control of the Board of
Selectmen. He views the procurement of the search firm as being the responsibility of the Town
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and he would like the Town’s Procurement Officer to manage that for the Selectmen. The hiring
of the Town Manager is another matter. Ms. Ciccolo agreed and said she believes that going
through the Procurement protocol shows that the Town is going through the process correctly.
She added that she would like documents to be requested on PDF via thumb drive so the
electronic version is available, as well as hard copies. Ms. Dahlberg said this request is common
but she noted that the qualifications documents and bid documents would still need to be
submitted separately. Ms. Dahlberg added that she would only be involved in the consultant
hiring phase and Human Resources/the Selectmen’s office would oversee the hiring of the new
Town Manager. Ms. Ciccolo noted that Ms. Dahlberg is procurement certified by the State and
there is a legal process that must be followed.
All Selectmen agreed to have the Procurement Office oversee the consultant bidding process.
The Selectmen agreed to ask consultants during the interview process to provide a list of other
towns they are currently conducting searches for.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 to approve as amended
and authorize the Town Manager to release the RFQ for an executive recruiting consultant for
the Town Manager position.
Review and Approve Make-up of Town Manager Screening Committee
Ms. Barry noted that the list of representative members of the propose Screening Committee
stands at 11 members and 2 liaisons which will be challenging, particularly in the summer
months. Mr. Lucente noted that the last Town Manager Screening Committee had 17 members;
he understands the size of that committee made meetings and coordination hectic. However, he
feels the draft list is appropriate and cannot be pared down.
The draft list and representative groups were agreed to as follows:
1. Current Selectmen (2)
2. Former Selectman…Ms. Barry will identify and contact;
3. School Committee Representative…the Committee will provide its representative;
4. Town Moderator… Ms. Barry will contact;
5. Former Town Department Manager…Mr. Pato will identify and contact;
6. Representative of Appropriation Committee Chair… the Committee will identify its
liaison;
7. Representative of Capital Expenditures Committee Chair… the Committee will identify its
liaison;
8. Business Representative…Mr. Lucente will identify and contact;
9. Planning Board Representative…the Planning Board will provide its representative;
10. Designee of Economic Development Advisory Committee… the committee will provide its
representative;
11. Citizens/Town Meeting Members (2)…Ms. Hai and Ms. Ciccolo will identify one each and
contact.
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The timeline for this group is still in flux but, generally, committee activity will take place
between June 4, when the Screening Committee members are appointed, and early August, when
the candidate finalists are identified. Meeting times might be during the day, at night, or on
Saturdays.
Mr. Lucente said the Selectmen should make clear that representatives will be members of the
various boards and committees, and some from the community at large; he also wants the
representatives to be diverse so that some groups are not over-represented. Ms. Hai agreed,
saying the Screening Committee should also reflect the demographic make up of the town. Ms.
Barry agreed, saying these points should be communicated by the Selectmen to the
committees/boards. Ms. Ciccolo said only those who can commit to the whole task should be
considered; Ms. Hai concurred, saying availability should be one of the criteria points. Mr. Pato
pointed out that the representatives from the Appropriation and Capital committees must be
liaisons rather than voting members because of the act under which the committees were formed.
Ms. Barry said a chair of the Screening Committee will be named and minutes taken; the
Committee must follow Open Meeting Laws but will meet in Executive Session as needed.
Coordination will come from the Selectmen’s office.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 to approve the make-
up of the Town Manager Screening Committee as amended.
Review Schedule for Town Manager Recruitment
Ms. Barry led the Selectmen through the schedule, asking for any questions or comments.
Ms. Ciccolo noted that, in order to create a balanced committee with broad representation, it
would be helpful if a roster of identified representatives was available to the Selectmen as they
and the committees/boards go about their recruitments. Ms. Barry said Ms. Katzenback would
keep a current list of designees for this purpose.
Adjourn
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selection voted 5-0 to adjourn at 2:40 p.m.
A true record; Attest:
Kim Siebert
Recording Secretary