[0:00] I think once a day. >> I tend to think so.

[0:07] » So I feel like I've >> every morning.

[0:09] » Okay, we're set. All right, we'll call this meeting to order. A special meeting

[0:14] of commissioners, board of commissioners, July 28, 2020.

[0:23] » It's 240. >> Andrew, do you want to take over?

[0:28] » Yeah. So um the one item unless you want to do approval of the

[0:32] agenda. >> Oh can I I'm sorry.

[0:35] » Madam chair move to approve the agenda as presented.

[0:37] » So I hear a second. >> Second.

[0:38] » All in favor? >> Okay. So the one thing that we have

[0:43] today is approval of proposal for executive recruitment services. Um I was

[0:48] able to solicit four proposals from different firms. Uh there is um they're

[0:53] from David Drown Associates, GMP, MGT, and the Southwest Service

[0:59] Cooperative. Uh all four proposals were included in the packet, as well as a

[1:04] summary of those proposals, kind of highlighting some what I felt were key

[1:07] items out of each of them. Uh I don't have a recommendation for you of which

[1:11] firm you should work with because I I think it's the responsibility of the

[1:14] board to lead this search particularly and I don't want to lead you in a

[1:19] specific direction. I think all four firms based on the proposals they

[1:22] provided could do the work. Um, two of them have, you know, primarily Minnesota

[1:28] experience. The other two have national experience uh working across the country

[1:33] but also have done work in Minnesota as well. So that uh kind of open up for

[1:38] discussion available for any questions that you have.

[1:40] » Madam Chair, if I may. Um Beth and I uh met with Andrew and the the primary

[1:47] discussion was how are we going to do recruitment?

[1:52] What do we believe is best for me county? And um it was at that time we

[1:58] gave Andrew direction to um get some proposals from firms

[2:04] um that we can take a look at and you know decide. Yeah, we could go out there

[2:10] and do it once on our our own, but you know, um we got to we'd kind of like

[2:17] to hit the timing element here a little bit anyway. If if we hire someone who

[2:22] has children in school, we're not going to get them hired before the school year

[2:25] starts. So, we we've got some potential roadblocks in the hiring process. and

[2:33] and Beth, am I correct in saying we were both

[2:37] pretty much 100% on board with let's take a look at a a recruiting firm?

[2:42] » I think that's the best. >> Now, that's our opinion. What do you

[2:47] folks think? >> Well, I just have a question. I mean, I

[2:51] may I just question we go out once and try it

[2:57] without a firm. I mean, I guess I thought in the

[3:02] interest of time I just thought this was the best way because of timing that's

[3:08] going to take some time and he's going to be gone in October and

[3:13] » I think a position this important that we just need people that have names and

[3:18] people that are praying for the job and I know it costs some money but in the

[3:23] long run I've been I've been in [clears throat] places where we've hired

[3:26] people and it turns out to be a huge issue and then it cost money to get rid

[3:30] of them and I just think like I said this is an important position and I just

[3:35] think this is the best idea. >> Madam chair maybe we could have Andrew

[3:38] just give us a short >> I think one of the real I think one of

[3:41] the real value I think there's two big things that you gain from using

[3:44] recruiter. done is the um you kind of remove the perception of bias from staff

[3:51] that the person who's kind of leading the recruitment and bringing forward

[3:55] semi-finalists and all the people who you think are going to be most qualified

[3:58] that that person is helping guide who their boss is going to be and does that

[4:03] person then have more influence at least the perceived more influence in the

[4:06] process than other members of that leadership team. Uh, and I know that's

[4:10] one of, you know, Muel has told me that that was something that got was a

[4:14] concern that was raised to her five years ago, six years ago. The other

[4:18] thing is that by hiring a recruiter, part of what you're paying them to do is

[4:23] go out and kind of beat the bushes and find candidates who might not be

[4:26] candidates until they hear about the position and have an opportunity to kind

[4:31] of have a frank conversation with that person about what to expect, what the um

[4:37] kind of how the the board works, how the leadership team work, all those things

[4:41] that can help make a person decide whether or not they want to pursue this.

[4:46] It's awkward and uncomfortable for a staff member to call up administrators

[4:50] or potential administrators from other counties and try and have those

[4:54] conversations with them. Whereas this person, that's what their role would be.

[4:58] So, I think those are two of the big >> I'm trying. So, I'm going to compare

[5:01] this to our uh our guy that called all what uh that we

[5:08] met at the hospital and did the the day of uh currently interview. What's it

[5:15] what's the guy from >> the strategic plan?

[5:18] » Yeah, the strategic plan. >> Oh, yes. Dave on. Yes,

[5:20] » Dave. Sorry. >> Yes.

[5:22] » But similar to that, you're going to call each of us.

[5:25] » Exactly. >> And put all that into the

[5:28] » in each set of the proposals. Part of what is included in there is um you know

[5:33] individual interviews with commissioners. Um some of them have

[5:37] included you know some further stakeholder engagement which I would

[5:40] anticipate being leadership team. If you want other people Right? If you want to

[5:45] include certain community members, members of say the planning commission

[5:48] or the AIS committee, whoever you want to have like help drive, all of it takes

[5:53] the more you include in that process, the more time it takes. They can also

[5:57] then as you're going through that process, work with you on identifying

[6:01] what do you want the end of it to look like? What do you want those interviews

[6:05] to look like? Who do you want involved with it? All of those things. And

[6:08] there's a a wide variety of things that you can do and they can help guide that

[6:13] conversation to get you to a place where you feel like you're going to be vetting

[6:16] the the candidates the best way possible. Um and yeah and and like we

[6:22] did with strategic planning, it allows the people who are then participating in

[6:26] that to participate in it and not be the one who's trying to facilitate it.

[6:33] » Can you give us a let's say we posted ourselves? what would the timeline look

[6:37] like? >> Um, so typically, you know, if we wanted

[6:41] it to be out for, you know, three to four weeks and then, um, there's a

[6:46] process to review and score, um, applicants, you're looking at another

[6:51] week or two for that and then you have to schedule interviews and, you know,

[6:54] you're probably looking at six, eight weeks at best before you're doing

[6:58] finalist interviews. In this process, it's probably 12ish weeks because of the

[7:02] time period it takes to do those interviews. put together that position

[7:06] profile um and do that recruitment process.

[7:10] » If we did it ourselves, >> if we did it ourselves, it might be more

[7:13] like eight weeks >> and until it's about 12 is a lot what a

[7:17] lot of the the ones who've included timelines in their proposals, 12 seems

[7:20] pretty common. >> We could go eight weeks and say this

[7:23] isn't working and anybody that qualifies >> and then need another 12

[7:27] » and another 12. So I just there's a lot of positions I'm fine with us.

[7:34] » Agreed. just >> I wanted to bring

[7:38] » I understand but I just think >> for the look of it and everything it's

[7:42] just better for us to get an outside person

[7:45] » and you can get a bad person not or somebody not bad but somebody that

[7:49] doesn't work too but I just think this is our best bet

[7:54] » they will vet them >> they'll you know they're going to see

[7:58] how that candidate fits to our >> needs situation

[8:02] » I think it's important we pick somebody has some experience in hiring county.

[8:07] » Yes. >> Not necessarily city.

[8:10] » I did notice >> there's a difference in how many people

[8:12] you super supervised apartments. So did you

[8:16] » I did notice both the first DDA and SCSC have um significant Minnesota

[8:24] experience. >> Is that county experience?

[8:27] » Um they both administrator >> they both have recruitments of um

[8:31] Minnesota counties as well. The others have done

[8:35] » county experience as well. >> Um

[8:38] » GMP has certainly done county and has done

[8:42] » fair >> one Minnesota county for sure. It's

[8:44] that's in there. >> That would be [laughter] the ones I not

[8:49] any business. >> That's what I can say for sure. They've

[8:51] done one. It wasn't

[8:54] » my perspective is they did a pretty good job for Sterns County

[8:57] » and um MGT has done counties across the country. I did not see any counties

[9:03] listed in Minnesota. It was all It looks like it's all city is what they've

[9:08] listed on there. >> Well, now let's think about that for

[9:11] » I take it back. They had one county. They had Ramsey County.

[9:13] » Okay. >> If

[9:15] the company that Sterns used, well, they know a lot about Andrew, so they must

[9:20] already know a lot about our needs. >> I don't think that's quite how that

[9:24] whole thing went out. There was a somebody,

[9:29] » but I mean, you know, they had to have prevented him so they know a little bit

[9:33] about his skills. >> Let's find Let's find the company that's

[9:36] had the most Minnesota county administrators. Which one is that?

[9:40] » That would be DVDA. >> I also appreciate that everything's

[9:45] included in that one price. So, I I had >> I had an Madam Chair, I had an

[9:51] opportunity to call Steel County attorney or connect with the Steel

[9:56] County attorney because they hit the mark. I had talked to Andrew first

[10:00] before I did it. I asked if he wanted me to reach out. So, I did because Steel

[10:04] County hits the mark for using DDA, HR, GMP, and SCSC. And so, Steel County, I

[10:12] spoke with their county administrator and their HR director. And so, they

[10:16] provided some feedback if you'd like to hear that.

[10:18] » Yes, please. >> So, they use DDA HR for their finance

[10:26] director. They had a 24 month contract. And so, here it looks like it's only for

[10:31] 12 months. So, it's something that maybe this board could consider negotiating

[10:35] into this current this current price is saying, hey, same price, but

[10:40] » for a guarantee. >> Yeah. So they did a 24 24 month

[10:44] guarantee >> and they lost their first finance

[10:48] director within the year and a half and so they went out and found a second one

[10:53] and so that's something that this board can consider is negotiating terms for

[10:58] the certain price. They mentioned that GMP the Jeff Welen is pretty well

[11:06] connected. However, they think that DDA HR would probably provide a better

[11:10] service because they have more of that statewide and outside the state. So,

[11:16] they might be a little bit connected differently than just in the state or

[11:23] FCSC. Also, the current county administrator

[11:27] was solicited by DDA HR, this LISA that I think maybe some of you might be

[11:33] familiar with. Yeah, I I have communicated with her.

[11:37] She would not be the one who's working on this project.

[11:40] » Okay. Well, Liza actually reached out to her and said, "Hey, I think you'd be a

[11:43] great fit as a county administrator." Had she not reached out to her, she

[11:47] would have never taken on this role as county administrator. The HR director is

[11:52] extremely happy with their county administrator and with that selection.

[11:56] However, their HR director mentioned that that was a few years ago and so

[12:02] lately they've gone out and just internally through HR and they've

[12:06] handled the public works director, the human services director and another

[12:11] director, but they have platforms for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook. And so I

[12:16] think their HR is built a little bit differently. And so they have the

[12:20] internal structure to be able to really capture a bigger audience. And so that's

[12:25] something to take into consideration is what is our HR structure

[12:30] built for? Um,

[12:34] » so they used DD DH >> for the county administrator. They used

[12:41] SCSC and they used

[12:45] GM P. >> I would I just make the comment that DDA

[12:52] is a per premier business partner AMC too. I mean, they know AMC and I would

[13:00] and that goes back to the connections you talked about where they they might

[13:04] know somebody who's maybe not actively looking to be an administrator but would

[13:08] be a good fit and go talk to them. So, I I I agree with that.

[13:14] » And then also >> as well knowledge of county government

[13:18] and >> uh human resources within county

[13:24] » and and they did have to hire an interim county attorney or interim county

[13:30] administrator. They came in three days a week. They had to hire this individual

[13:35] two different times. And so there is the option if something

[13:38] » How long was the search? >> I think that it wasn't success. They had

[13:43] one that wasn't >> it's not the finance director. This was

[13:47] a different one. I don't think they were using DDA for the first round. But just

[13:51] as another thought is that there are interim county attorneys who

[13:56] administrators. >> Yeah,

[13:58] » that can >> I think we discussed that.

[14:01] » I don't know if we need that. We'll see. >> Yeah, I I think in all likelihood we'll

[14:05] probably unless we find ourselves in a position where you're going to have an

[14:07] extended time with a vacancy. You probably don't need to bring someone

[14:10] from the outside to do that, but you may find yourself in that position.

[14:14] » Depends on time. >> Depends on timing. It depends on, you

[14:17] know, if you go through a a search and you can't find anybody, then you may

[14:21] need to do that. I mean, >> if we find an existing one, they may

[14:26] have a contract 90 days to to get out of.

[14:30] » We're going to have some time. Yeah. I mean, there's some vacancy time. No

[14:33] doubt. >> They're defin

[14:36] » So, what are you thinking? That's who I >> I'm leaning towards the DDA. If we can

[14:41] negotiate that guaranteed time frame to 24 months would be great.

[14:46] Are there any other terms to I mean we're the ones creating making the final

[14:51] agreement so there are other terms that you can negotiate if necessary not

[14:55] necessarily not meaning you might get them but

[14:57] » would be negotiating >> I'll communicate with

[15:01] » do we know um how long ago that was I mean

[15:06] » it's >> like say is it going to cost us $26,000

[15:11] to get a two year I mean is it going to be

[15:13] » right >> I could I'll pose that question this

[15:17] But we're not interested in a higher fee. Is this going to be something

[15:20] that's better? >> Okay.

[15:21] » You bring up a valid point being an AMC premier.

[15:25] » Yeah. >> They know

[15:29] » they know a lot of counties. >> Yep.

[15:31] » Personally, >> and they know a lot about us already

[15:33] because they did our they still >> they do our wage study.

[15:38] » That's what I mean. They know a lot of counties our size. They do all the

[15:42] comparables to that. So, one side of business that information

[15:48] » start

[15:51] » if everything goes great >> depending on what that person's

[15:57] » so that's who I was kind of I appreciate the work you did on that

[16:01] » thanks Brandy >> the other piece they suggested was H DDA

[16:05] HR doesn't do the 360 she called it a 360 interviewing where you have your

[16:11] leadership county board all in one room >> and She suggested that that be the model

[16:16] this board maybe consider is having everyone in the same room instead of

[16:20] having county board in here leadership in another room because they hear

[16:24] everything at the same time. This is from one county there's 87 of us. So

[16:29] just >> we can figure that out.

[16:33] » Yeah. >> And then the final inter so that's the

[16:36] first interview. Then the final interview is just with the board panel

[16:39] and whatever leadership you want. >> I mean we did

[16:44] did a hospital administrator. We had a meet with three finalists just people.

[16:49] So there's different ways but I just want to get it going in the interest of

[16:53] time and it's like they got kids and changing schools

[16:58] just not that I we still want to we're not going to do it because of timing but

[17:02] just

[17:06] qualified candidate if it takes us an extra month to get that person

[17:10] » it takes us an extra month. And you know, Beth and I have been

[17:16] talking a lot about this simply because we're on personnel, but is that

[17:22] maybe you want a different structure for this as it goes forward. Maybe you don't

[17:26] want personnel doing this. >> I think that there's a couple Well,

[17:29] there are definitely steps that we want the full board to be engaged with. Y

[17:33] » the um obviously doing the project kickoff meeting with the consultants um

[17:38] doing the but at the same time one of the the points could be does the full

[17:47] board approve the position profile or is just the personnel committee approved

[17:50] position profile right um is it critical some places the full board wants to do

[17:56] it other places they're okay with not uh but then of course once we select

[18:00] finalists for interviews that's going to be full board decision. Um they'll come

[18:05] and present to the semi- finalists to wittle wittle down the finalists and

[18:08] then of course the interviews are going to be full board as well. So

[18:13] I I think that there's other than the one piece of approving the position

[18:17] profile there probably is not >> really a ton of things that just the

[18:23] personnel could be >> right. Agreed. Yep. the profile. I I

[18:28] mean just my gut reaction is you want all five of us

[18:33] » to have our input. >> You're going to have your input.

[18:37] » My preference is to have everybody involved as much as we can.

[18:41] » This is not >> We do pretty good together, too. It's

[18:44] not like we're >> You weren't here this afternoon,

[18:47] obviously. [laughter] >> You're still here. So,

[18:52] » everybody got bloody. I mean, there's nobody getting out of this deal live,

[18:59] » right? There's been a lot of >> probably not good things to say as we're

[19:01] recording, right? [laughter] >> Oh, seriously.

[19:05] » Is every is everybody in agreement for that company, you think, or

[19:09] » Yeah. Do we need a motion? We do need to take a motion.

[19:10] » Yeah. M madam chair, I'd make a motion to uh uh choose DDA or accept their

[19:17] proposal for the uh search for administrator

[19:22] » um >> with a condition that

[19:24] » can can you change that to instead of accept to have him negotiate a contract

[19:30] with him? >> Oh, sure. Yeah.

[19:32] » Otherwise, we're >> and and execute a contract in the form

[19:36] approved by the county attorney. >> Yeah,

[19:37] » exactly what he said. >> Then we don't need to come back with the

[19:39] contract. >> Yeah. Yeah, we'll we'll accept our or

[19:45] » we will uh I'll make a motion >> that we uh negotiate with David Brown

[19:50] and Associates DDA to uh to accept a contract to search to go out and search

[19:56] for a new county administrator. >> I second that.

[20:00] » Any more discussion? >> All in favor?

[20:03] » I

[20:06] so you will >> I'll have that conversation with them.

[20:09] Um, I guess the one question I have for you is if they come back and say, "Well,

[20:13] we want an extra $4,000 or $5,000 >> for

[20:18] the 24. We meet on August 4th." >> So, I I also know Pat's out of town and

[20:24] so that's part of the reason why this would kick off on the 7th. So, um,

[20:29] all right. Sounds good. That's all we need.

[20:31] » Anything else? >> We cannot.

[20:33] » We can I'd take a motion to adjurnn. So, >> moved. Second.

[20:38] » Second.

[20:42] today because told me I can do that.

[20:46] » I believe

July 28, 2026, Meeker County Board of Commissioners Special Meeting

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