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03-20-17 CC Spec Mtg MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2017 Immediately Following EDA meeting MINUTES 1. CONVENE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 7:12 P.M. A. Roll Call Present: Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie, Siakel, and Sundberg Absent: None B. Review Agenda Labadie moved, Johnson seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 510. 2. CONDUCT REVIEW OF EMPLOYEE UNDER COUNCIL AUTHORITY Mayor Zerby noted that Council was going to enter into closed session pursuant to Minn. Stat. 13D.05 Subd. 3(a) for the purpose of conducting a performance evaluation for Bruce DeJong. The subject of the review did not request the meeting be open. All present were in attendance. The closed session started at 7:13 P.M. The meeting went back into open session at 7:52 P.M. Siakel moved, Sundberg seconded, authorizing the City Administrator to accept the resignation of the City Finance Director Bruce DeJong which must include eight weeks of severance pay plus accrued vacation and sick time subject to a signed and dated separation agreement. If the separation agreement is not accepted by Mr. DeJong Council authorizes the City Administrator to take further action that is consistent with Council's discussion. Motion passed 5/0. 11 70,111WMARTI-1yaw Administrator Lerud stated that during the March 13, 2017, Council special meeting Council interviewed city clerk candidate Sandie Thone. Council was not able to finish up its discussion. He noted that he wants to move forward one way or the other with Ms. Thone. CITY OF SHOREWOOD SPECIAL MEETING March 20, 2017 Page 2 of 6 He reviewed the process that was used for all of the applicants. He and former City Clerk Panchyshyn independently evaluated each city clerk application the City received on a 100 point scale. They then got together to rank the top five candidates. The top five candidates were interviewed by Personnel Committee (Administrator Lerud and Councilmembers Siakel and Sundberg) and Panchyshyn. Ms. Thone was determined to be head and shoulders above the other four. He completed references checks on Ms. Thone. He recommended hiring Ms. Thone for the city clerk position. Councilmember Sundberg stated the Personnel Committee spent many hours going over resumes and interviewing the five candidates. For the city clerk position Ms. Thone was the clear front runner. There were two other candidates who would perhaps be okay but they were not as well qualified as Ms. Thane from the Personnel Committee's perspective and Panchyshyn's perspective. They all thought Ms. Thone had all of the credentials. They thought she could quickly assume all of the responsibilities of the position. Ms. Thone has a different personality than Panchyshyn had; that is not necessarily a bad thing. She asked Lerud to provide his findings from the reference checks he conducted on Ms. Thone. Administrator Lerud explained he spoke with three people. The first was David McKnight a former City Administrator for the City of Mendota Heights and the current Administrator for Farmington. He was the Mendota Heights Administrator in 2009. At that time Ms. Thone was an employee there in the Police Department. He promoted her to City Clerk. She was asked to make a commitment to Mendota Heights before he promoted her; she did that. Mr. McKnight knew she had applied for a job with Shorewood. He thought she was very professional. She replaced a city clerk that had been there for 30 years and did an outstanding job. Her quality of work was outstanding. She had high expectations of herself and met them. He would absolutely hire her back for the same position. The Election Coordinator for Washington County stated they had no issues with Lakeland and that there was less handholding there than there was for many other jurisdictions. He spoke with Sandra Krebsbach a former mayor of Mendota Heights. She thought Ms. Thane was incredibly competent. Ms. Krebsbach is currently working in the private sector. She had hired Ms. Thone to do some interim work and Ms. Thone did quality work on time. She knew that Ms. Thone she had applied for a job with Shorewood. She thought Ms. Thone was always positive and resilient. She cautioned against hiring Ms. Thone for a boxed -in position. She recommended finding opportunities for Ms. Thone to do extra work. She did not suggest any areas for improvement. Ms. Thone had earned her bachelor's degree and was working on her master's degree. She noted she would hire Ms. Thone back and that she found her to be "an incredible employee" and very ethical. He noted that he had not done reference checks on any of the other candidates because Ms. Thone was the first choice. Councilmember Sundberg asked Administrator Lerud how he viewed all of the candidates. Lerud stated Ms. Thone has a strong personality. CITY OF SHOREWOOD SPECIAL MEETING March 20, 2017 Page 3 of 6 Administrator Lerud clarified that the City is not replacing Ms. Panchyshyn; it is hiring a city clerk. He stated he thought Ms. Thone would provide leadership to those reporting to her. He then stated maybe the City would not fill the finance director position right away and use temporary services to provide some of those services. Eventually there may be an opportunity for an administrative services position with an accountant reporting to it. Ms. Thone would have to grow into such a position. He clarified he was not saying that is the way it would have to be but it is a real possibility. Councilmember Siakel noted she was not present when Council interviewed Ms. Thone. She stated the Personnel Committee interviewed a number of candidates and recommended Ms. Thone as the top candidate. She agreed with Administrator Lerud that Ms. Thone would not be Ms. Panchyshyn. She stated that Ms. Panchyshyn did not instantaneously become the phenomenal employee she was when she left the City. Her knowledge grew over time. She then stated she thought Ms. Thone has incredible attention to detail. Her organization skills stood out. She noted she views the city clerk as the backbone of the City. Therefore, having a person with a strong personality for that position would be valuable. Ms. Panchyshyn was a silent yet very effective person behind the scenes. She went on to state she thought Ms. Thone would not need a lot of training or take a long time to get up to speed. She thought that the fact that Ms. Thone is earning her master's degree related to human resources and people development is an added benefit. She commented that she did not think there had been a strong focus on staff development. She thought Ms. Thone could excel at doing that. She noted that she thought Ms. Thone was well qualified for the position. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she had a concern that some of the other candidates did not have the same attention to detail as Ms. Thone appeared to have. Attention to detail is critical for the city clerk position. Administrator Lerud stated he thought Ms. Thone was qualified. He then stated during the Council interview of Ms. Thone concern was expressed that Ms. Thone might not stay with the City for a long time. It is possible that she might only stay with the City for 3 — 4 years and then move on because she is good. The City should not be afraid of that. He noted that he would rather have a "high flyer" for 3 — 4 years rather than someone who is not strongly driven for 10 years. Councilmember Siakel stated there is an opportunity to shape the staff at City Hall so that it meets the City's need in the future. There has not been any structural change of the organization for a long time. Councilmember Labadie stated that on paper she thought Ms. Thone looks good. Councilmember Siakel stated it is important that Council consider a candidate's skills, qualifications and work history to determine if they align with the position and with what the City needs. She has not heard or seen anything that tells her that Mt. Thone does not meet that test. If other Councilmembers do she would like to hear about that. Councilmember Johnson stated that during the March 13 interview process those Councilmembers who were present and Administrator Lerud all knew that Ms. Thone's employment with the Cities of Lakeland CITY OF SHOREWOOD SPECIAL MEETING March 20, 2017 Page 4 of 6 and Lakeland Shores had ended. For the first 9 questions Ms. Thone continued to state that she was working for Lakeland and Lakeland Shores; she did not address the elephant in the room until the final question from Council which was precisely about the news article Council had read. He found that disconnect to be troubling. Councilmember Sundberg stated she thought the Personnel Committee was aware of that during its interview with Ms. Thone. Administrator Lerud clarified he does not recollect that being talked about during the first interview. Lerud explained that Councilmember Johnson had forwarded a newspaper article that stated Ms. Thone had a separation agreement with Lakeland. Lerud had asked her about that toward the end of the Council interview. Ms. Thone indicated at that time that the withdrawal period had passed for the agreement. Councilmember Johnson noted that Ms. Thone did explain the situation when asked about it. He found that situation to be awkward. Councilmember Sundberg stated during the Personnel Committee's interview with Ms. Thone she understood that her employment with Lakeland was coming to an end. Councilmember Siakel stated it was her recollection that during the Committee's interview Ms. Thane had indicated she was working a number of jobs and going to school and that she would prefer to have just one job. Administrator Lerud stated he also recollected that. Mayor Zerby stated he had negative reaction to some of the personality traits she exhibited and about some of the statements she made during her interview with Council. He conveyed his trust in the Personnel Committee and Administrator Lerud who would have to work closely with her. He noted that he has mixed feelings about Ms. Thone. He noted he had great expectations when he went into the interview process based on what he had heard from Lerud. Councilmember Siakel asked how long Council spent with Ms. Thone during the March 13 interview. Councilmember Johnson stated 45 minutes. Siakel asked if it would be inappropriate to ask Ms. Thone to come back for another interview. Administrator Lerud stated that could be arranged but Ms. Thone may decide that going through a third interview would be too much and withdraw. Administrator Lerud explained that position would be appointed with a six -month probationary period. At the end of the six months if it is not working the City the probationary employee could be dismissed. The City has solicited applications for the planning director position twice. If it does that twice for the city clerk position people looking for jobs that saw that may question why they would want to work for Shorewood. That would not reflect well on Shorewood. Councilmember Siakel asked if a six month probationary period is standard for the City. Attorney Keane responded yes. CITY OF SHOREWOOD SPECIAL MEETING March 20, 2017 Page 5 of 6 Councilmember Labadie asked if the criteria to terminate someone at the end of a six month probationary period are as stringent as those that must be met to terminate an employee not on probation. Attorney Keane responded no. Attorney Keane noted that he has not met Ms. Thone or any of the other candidates. He stated in a smaller organization such as the City there is a need for a cultural fit. He hopes that has some bearing on Council's evaluation. Councilmember Labadie stated she thought that had a huge bearing. Councilmember Sundberg stated she thought the City's culture is under transition with the number of personnel changes taking place and that is healthy. Councilmember Labadie noted that she respects the Personnel Committee's opinion. She stated she thought if the City solicited additional applications she thought it would receive a more inferior pool of applicants than it received the first time. She clarified that she is more comfortable accepting the recommendation because of the probationary period. She commented that it is possible that she had compared Ms. Thone to Ms. Panchyshyn. She reiterated that on paper she thought Ms. Thone would do the job just fine. She was uncertain if Ms. Thone would fit in with other employees. Mayor Zerby stated after the probationary period he asked if Council would have another opportunity to accept a permanent position. Administrator Lerud at the end of that period he would bring a recommendation to Council for consideration. He noted that he cannot envision a situation where he would want to extend the probationary period. Councilmember Labadie stated she is willing to take a chance on Ms. Thone and noted she was not willing to do that one week ago. Hearing Councilmembers Siakel's and Sundberg's, Administrator Lerud's and Ms. Panchyshyn's perspectives swayed her. In response to a question from Councilmember Siakel, Administrator Lerud explained the City could terminate a new employee during the probationary period if it wanted to. Siakel then asked Lerud who was the last boss of Ms. Thone that the City received a reference from. Lerud stated it was from Ms. Krebsbach the previous mayor for Mendota Heights. Siakel stated Ms. Thone had a relatively long list of references. Lerud stated Ms. Thone asked that Shorewood not contact the Cities of Lakeland or Lakeland Shores and he did not find that troubling for Lakeland because of the separation agreement. And, for Lakeland .Shores she still works there part time and that may be why she does not want them contacted. Her supervisor at the City of Lake Elmo is no longer there and things are a mess there. Councilmember Johnson noted that he does not want to clip Administrator Lerud's' wings as a new City Administrator. Sundberg moved, Siakel seconded, authorizing City Administrator Greg Lerud to offer the position of Shorewood City Clerk to Sandie Thone with a six month probationary period and giving him the latitude to write the offer letter laying out all of the terms. Motion passed 510. CITY OF SHOREWOOD SPECIAL MEETING March 20, 2017 Page 6 of 6 Other Mayor Zerby stated there may be a lack of a quorum for the March 27, 2017, Council meeting. Councilmembers Johnson and Labadie are going to be out of town for sure. Councilmember Siakel stated if Council can meet during the day she could meet before she has to fly out to the east coast. Mayor Zerby asked Councilmembers Johnson and Labadie if they wanted to participate in the meeting. Labadie noted she had planned on missing that meeting. Attorney Keane noted that the Statute was amended such that a person could participate by Skype in a Council meeting. Siakel moved, Zerby seconded, rescheduling the 7:00 P.M. March 27, 2017, Council meeting for 10:00 A.M. Motion passed 5/0. 4. ADJOURN Sundberg moved, Siakel seconded, Adjourning the City Council Special Meeting of March 20, 2017, at 8:21 P.M. Motion passed 510. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder "Scott Werby, Ma or ATTEST: City Administr tor, Greg Lerud