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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06122023 City Council Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 12, 2023 Volume 42, Page 329 CALL TO ORDER hr The June 12, 2023 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Mayor Sue McClure. OPENING CEREMONY Police Chief Alan Nickell led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Sue McClure, presiding, and John Osenga Liz DeMoss Mike Calhoon Randy Wells Kevin Finch Robert Barnwell comprising a quorum of the Council; and Norm Regis, Acting City Manager Stephen Sowell, Assistant City Manager Alan Nickell, Police Chief Tammy Nickell, Human Resource(HR) Karen Corrigan, Acting Deputy City Clerk Excused—None Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING No citizens signed up for comment. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (DeMoss/Osenga) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous There were no items on consent to be read into record. NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Lim Review the applications received by Human Resources for the City Manager position. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 12, 2023 Volume 42, Page 330 Mayor McClure explained that there were five city manager applications received. Tonight the council could choose if there were any to interview. Wells requested clarification if the other four applicants could be discussed in public, since only one applicant had replied they were approved a public discussion. Tammy Nickell advised that the five applicants were given a chance to request that their application be discussed publicly, and four did not respond to that request. McClure pointed out options that council have tonight are to choose to interview all five applicants or to narrow the list down. DeMoss felt that they should be able to discuss the applicants and only go into Executive Session if they are going to have questions on personal matters. Calhoon wanted to extend the application period another 30 days. Calhoon concluded that he preferred to interview all five applicants, then if none were acceptable to extend the application time another 30 days. DeMoss agreed that the council should interview all five applicants. Wells agreed to interview all five applicants. He added that if the council could not reach a decision after the interviews to then move forward with opening the position back to the public. Motion (Osenga/Wells ) To move forward to interview all five applicants. Motion Passed Unanimous McClure inquired with the council if anyone had objections to a special meeting for the purpose of city manager applicant interviews on Wednesday, June 28th at 5:00 pm. There was no objection from the council. McClure confirmed with the council that the option of interviewing online by video conference would be open to every applicant. There were no objections to the online interview option. The council appointed Finch, Osenga, DeMoss to a committee to review the interview questions. Motion (Wells /Finch) For Human Resources to do background checks and present them to the council prior to the interview date. • City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 12, 2023 Volume 42,Page 239 Wells stated that he presented this motion because the council should have the background check information prior to the interviews since the council may decide after the interviews to open the application process again for thirty days after. Barnwell stated that allowing HR to contract out the background checks would allow complete objectivity. Tammy Nickell stated that Alaska Municipal League (AML) are who the office used for background checks. Motion to Amend(Wells/Finch) Direct Human Resources(HR)in the event that AML is not able to perform background checks in a timely manner prior to the interview date,that HR will to the best of their ability background checks of the applicants prior to the interview date. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (Finch/Wells) Have HR contact the applicants and request that they send the council their last two evaluations. Finch withdrew his motion with no objections. CITIZEN COMMENTS Tim Dillon, outside city limits, Kenai Peninsula Economic.Development pointed out that the council appeared to have a diverse group of applicantsXchoose from and enjoyed the discussion tonight. p" • Alan Nickell, outside city limits, stated he was the &Tice chief, and that the council had time and hoped that they took their time in choosing a good lgadet for the city and.choose someone with project management experience. Nickell stressed the itnportance of a professionally done background check. Becky Dunn,inside city limits,advised the council that an employer can inquire to previous employers if they would re-hire a previous employee. Lynda Paquette,outside city limits,requested the council to inquire to the applicants if they knew anyone in town. City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes June 12, 2023 Volume 42,Page 239 COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Finch stated the process has been interesting. Barnwell stated that having five applicants to choose from was nice and looked forward to the interviews. Wells thanked the police chief for his input and the citizens' correspondence,which helped with the process. DeMoss thanked everyone for their comments and for those who applied for the position. Mayor McClure thanked everyone who appeared and commented. EXECUTIVE SESSION No executive session was held. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m. StuAlkca4_,-e- en Corrigan Sue McClure Acting Deputy City Clerk Mayor (City Seal) tiossimue y •. + O • SEAL r• • r• • ` • i s st/NE1. %?