[0:00] Alright, welcome to the City
[0:01] of New Carrollton Council meeting Hybrid.
[0:04] Tonight is February 4th, Wednesday, February 4th, 2026.
[0:08] And I have no one in the audience here.
[0:10] Is there anyone with a hand raised online Maisha? No.
[0:13] That we can go right into our presenters.
[0:15] And the first one is Bolton, interview
[0:19] with Bolton Rewards.
[0:22] What? The super rewards.
[0:23] There's no one online with a hand raised.
[0:28] There's no one online.
[0:30] Not with a hand raised or anything.
[0:31] Oh, okay. Well, Maisha told me that. Mm-hmm.
[0:33] So we're gonna go to the Bolton's boat.
[0:35] Can you hook them in Maisha? Are they There
[0:38] Is someone From Bolton Rewards online?
[0:53] Maybe we should skip to the next person.
[0:56] The next person's scheduled
[0:57] for 20 minutes later. They're asking seven 30.
[0:59] Oh, Well,
[1:02] I'll take this moment just to excuse myself for a second.
[1:03] I need my glasses. Bear with me.
[1:15] Thank you.
[1:27] Well, I made it all the way from Florida.
[1:29] I'm 15 minutes from the house.
[1:30] It stuck in traffic on the beltway.
[1:35] Well, stay safe. I'm just shocked to see the snow.
[1:41] Yeah, if you drive on some
[1:42] side streets, you'll see a lot more. Yeah.
[1:45] Yep. I walk straight on.
[1:48] You'll see some as you pull into your neighborhood.
[1:51] Well, ma you'll know when they come on, right?
[1:53] We'll, if they do. Mm-hmm.
[1:55] So we can move to, um, item number six
[1:59] and do the council announcements while we wait.
[2:02] Okay. And I'll start with, uh,
[2:07] Brianna have any announcements to share tonight?
[2:09] Um, I don't have any announcements other than, uh,
[2:12] if you haven't heard
[2:13] and you're interested in knowing Prince George's County
[2:16] schools have announced they're gonna be on a two hour delay
[2:18] for the remainder of the week.
[2:20] It is. We are all hopefully optimistic that we'll go back
[2:23] to full-time school on Monday.
[2:25] Uh, please stay in touch with your county council
[2:29] or school board reps if you have any questions about, uh,
[2:32] after school activities, transportation or, uh, busing.
[2:36] Uh, but that's the only announcement I have.
[2:39] Okay. Uh, Cynthia, you have any announcements to share?
[2:42] Okay. First, I would like
[2:43] to say happy Black History Month, everybody.
[2:47] And secondly, I, I,
[2:49] I made the statement last night and the people made it.
[2:52] Again, we need to get those, uh, department education,
[2:54] not department, um, education, PG County
[2:58] educators back down there that, uh, discussed
[3:00] with us when we sold those schools to them
[3:02] so they could tell us what's the update.
[3:04] And, uh, like they said, the parking,
[3:07] the school thing and stuff like that.
[3:09] That's all.
[3:11] Okay. Agnel,
[3:13] if you're on, do you have any announcements for us?
[3:16] Yes. Good evening. Um, I want
[3:19] to publicize the city, the city council town hall
[3:25] on February 14 at two o'clock at the library.
[3:30] And god willing, I will be there in person.
[3:35] That's it, Mr. Chair.
[3:37] Okay. Outstanding. Lincoln.
[3:39] Um, I'm gonna go ahead of you,
[3:40] but we're doing council announcements
[3:42] because the first consultant hasn't shown up online
[3:46] yet, and it's gonna be virtual.
[3:47] Okay. So take take your time
[3:49] because I have a few announcements.
[3:50] March the fifth. I encourage the staff who can do it
[3:55] and the council members to participate
[3:57] and read across America at, at, uh, Carrollton Elementary.
[4:03] I think everyone's been invited.
[4:04] I know have I have been for the last 10 years,
[4:06] and I go and read to the kids.
[4:07] Always enjoy it. Read across America's March the fifth.
[4:10] If you've been invited, please respond one way or the other.
[4:12] And if you haven't been invited, you
[4:14] contact the people over there.
[4:15] And I'm sure you would like to welcome all of us.
[4:18] Um, council's schedule.
[4:20] Uh, I'd like to treat the selection
[4:25] of a consultant for the compensation study
[4:27] to be a dedicated meeting next week.
[4:30] We don't have any meetings scheduled,
[4:32] but I'd like to call on for Wednesday,
[4:35] February 11th at seven o'clock or one hour only.
[4:39] I think we can do it in an hour.
[4:40] And everybody voice the contractors
[4:42] they like and don't like.
[4:43] And let's get our views outta here
[4:44] and get ready for a vote at the
[4:47] legislative session next week.
[4:48] How's that sound? Oh,
[4:51] Okay. Wednesdays,
[4:52] Wednesday's my birthday.
[4:54] I was going out for dinner. How,
[4:55] what time would this be and how long?
[4:58] Seven. Seven o'clock for one hour.
[5:00] Cut right into your dinner. Right.
[5:03] Can anybody make it six? No.
[5:06] Uh, yeah, we can do six in that one.
[5:08] Make sure. Make sure, make sure. Well,
[5:11] Lincoln, Lincoln might have probably
[5:12] Six. Yeah, six is
[5:13] very challenging for me as well. Okay.
[5:15] What did you say? Virtual? Is it virtual or hybrid?
[5:19] I'm open to either, this is just for us to discuss this,
[5:22] but it has to be done in public setting. But
[5:24] Mr. Chair, do you really
[5:25] think it's gonna take an hour?
[5:27] I don't, but I like to allow time for people
[5:29] to voice their views.
[5:31] Um, I just feel like it could be an agenda
[5:33] item at the next meeting.
[5:35] I mean, I've been taking notes the whole time
[5:36] and so I'll be prepared to, to speak very quickly.
[5:43] Okay. Well, this is, uh, something i, I wanted to do,
[5:47] but maybe we shouldn't do it.
[5:48] So let's pass on that and we can discuss that later
[5:50] because I have one more announcement
[5:52] and then link into announcements.
[5:54] And you're with Bolton? Mm-hmm. Oh, welcome.
[5:56] Good to see you. Uh,
[5:58] I have a couple announcements related to the scouts.
[6:00] The, uh, the Secretary of War, PG said, came
[6:04] after the scouts today and said since they, uh,
[6:07] they admitted girls, they violated the DEI.
[6:10] So federal funding is cut off for scouts.
[6:14] Oh God. And if you don't think scouts
[6:16] are, I'm a scout assistant.
[6:18] Scoutmaster. If you don't think scouts are funded
[6:20] by the federal government, they're not a lot.
[6:22] But they do have a jamboree each year.
[6:24] And the jamboree is usually in the DC area.
[6:26] It's in West Virginia this year.
[6:27] And the federal government provides troops, tents, pots,
[6:32] army supplies and personnel to help with the scouts.
[6:34] And, and he says
[6:36] that if you're gonna let girls into the scouts,
[6:38] that violates DEI.
[6:40] So that funding's cut off,
[6:41] but that's, um, I still think scouting,
[6:44] that's my announcement is it's still a good program
[6:46] that scouts meet on Tuesday night
[6:48] at the Elks Lodge in Kenworth,
[6:49] if anybody's interested in scouting.
[6:51] Which also leads me to something that, um, I won't be able
[6:55] to announce again at a council meeting
[6:58] because our next council meeting will probably be the
[7:01] Wednesday after the holiday.
[7:04] And on the holiday, which is what day is that? February?
[7:09] What's the, what's the holiday? Maisha? Yes. 16th, the 18th.
[7:14] The holidays the 16th. Oh, holiday.
[7:15] The 16th is a Monday
[7:17] and we're not gonna meet on the holiday.
[7:19] And then that 16th is the day
[7:21] that the scouts will have their annual chili supper.
[7:24] So that'll be at Elk Lodge from five until nine.
[7:27] And please feel free to come over and get a ticket
[7:29] and eat chili with the scouts.
[7:31] Read across America Scouts
[7:33] and we'll talk about the council thing later.
[7:34] Now that, uh, Lincoln,
[7:36] you have any quick announcements before?
[7:37] I actually don't have any announcements, Mr.
[7:39] Chair, other than to continue
[7:40] to be careful in this bad weather.
[7:42] I'm just gonna be very, very cold this weekend.
[7:44] So please chuck in your neighbors
[7:45] and make sure everyone's safe. Thank
[7:47] You. Thank you. And
[7:48] now we'll welcome Ton please.
[7:52] Where would you like me to?
[7:53] Uh, I think the podium's the best for everybody.
[7:55] The camera can pick you up
[7:56] there, if you don't mind standing.
[7:57] Is that okay? If you
[8:02] prefer to sit, we have lots of seats tonight too.
[8:05] I noticed that. So bad weather keeps people home.
[8:08] Do you have a presentation that you wanted to share on the
[8:10] Screen? You know, it, it's, we
[8:11] were told we have five minutes
[8:12] for a presentation and then it's q and a.
[8:15] So for five minutes it really didn't seem to make sense.
[8:18] Okay. Um, I'm more than happy to kind of speak
[8:21] to the project and outline those major.
[8:24] I was the one that sent those guidelines.
[8:25] 'cause I really didn't want to go through the resumes
[8:27] and what the firm has done and the history.
[8:29] I wanted to hear what your approach was to the project.
[8:31] So I wanted go limit it to that.
[8:33] If you can't do that in five minutes, take a little longer
[8:35] and you have until at least seven 30. So,
[8:38] Okay. Great.
[8:39] Um, well, I think, I think as it's,
[8:41] it's outlined in terms of the project steps that are there,
[8:44] the, uh, the way the request for proposal was written,
[8:48] it's fairly clear, um, what the, the, the goals are of the
[8:53] engagement and what the projects are.
[8:56] Um, I think for us, the the first piece project A,
[8:59] the actual employee pay audit,
[9:01] when we talk about the project planning for that, uh,
[9:05] I think a big portion of that's going
[9:06] to be working out the communication protocols, uh, for,
[9:10] for this, this project A, but then also for B and C as well.
[9:15] Um, I think part of the question for us will be, um, uh,
[9:19] what, what, what do we report to the council on
[9:22] and how directly, and then what do we report
[9:25] with administration on and, and how directly
[9:27] and how those two work together.
[9:29] Uh, we do this very frequently, um, as we're doing, uh,
[9:33] performance management
[9:35] or sort of process management for a city manager, you know,
[9:38] working with the council to help determine, uh,
[9:41] the city manager's, uh, performance for a year in pay.
[9:43] So it's, it's a common thing for us to understand how
[9:46] to balance out the, that relationship.
[9:49] So, um, the actual pay audit is,
[9:51] is really just digging in as was specified.
[9:54] Um, looking at the past several years in terms
[9:57] of what's actually occurred, uh, at the time,
[9:59] what was approved to occur, what the, the, the policy was
[10:03] and looking for deviations.
[10:04] And, um, part of that will also then trying to,
[10:08] to understand if there is a deviation, is there some,
[10:12] some time-based proration
[10:14] or some piece that's like that to it.
[10:16] Um, but ultimately being able to report back
[10:19] and, um, uh, be able to explain any deviations,
[10:22] but hopefully, um, hopefully give counsel, uh,
[10:25] some confidence that policy was followed and,
[10:29] and what what occurred was what was appropriate.
[10:31] Um, we'll come in with a very objective perspective on that.
[10:36] And, um, you know, for us, uh, we, we tend to prefer
[10:41] to be able to take resources
[10:42] and materials, uh, back to our shop to, to be able
[10:46] to work on our normal tools and those sorts of things.
[10:49] But not knowing data availability,
[10:52] the format it would be in some of those pieces.
[10:55] It might mean that we do need
[10:56] to spend a couple days on site here, uh, trying to, to work
[10:59] through the records today.
[11:01] Most records can be digitized if they're
[11:03] not already electronic.
[11:05] So it's easy enough to, uh, kind of work through that.
[11:08] Um, as I said,
[11:10] I think a big piece is gonna be the
[11:11] communication protocol with that.
[11:13] And, you know, if we have trouble getting information, um,
[11:17] who do we turn to, uh, to, to really kind of push the issue
[11:20] to try and collect that data.
[11:23] Uh, at the same time,
[11:24] we would wanna start the organizational assessment.
[11:27] And my colleague from Matrix,
[11:29] I think she was planning on trying to be on
[11:31] with us about seven 30,
[11:33] but I'm more than happy to, to answer, um, the process.
[11:37] Uh, we actually worked a few, a couple years ago, uh,
[11:41] with Tacoma Park, uh, as I joined group, um, doing it
[11:45] as a broad organizational assessment and a classification
[11:48] and compensation program.
[11:50] Uh, we have assembled, uh, technical specialists, um,
[11:54] in Vance in law enforcement, uh, that are part
[11:57] of the Matrix team to do the organizational assessment.
[12:00] Uh, there's a lot of discovery
[12:02] with management and administration.
[12:05] Uh, I think this is part of
[12:07] what we would wanna understand is
[12:09] what role the council wants to play in sort
[12:12] of setting the stage in terms of service delivery, uh,
[12:15] expectation of constituents, those sorts of things.
[12:18] You know, it's, it's kind of an if then statement.
[12:21] You know, if if the council wants to be able
[12:23] to serve the community this way, then this is the way some
[12:26] of the service delivery should occur.
[12:29] So it's, it's not just there's one way to,
[12:31] to do this particular task.
[12:35] There's a lot of overlap, um, in the organizational analysis
[12:39] and the job analysis that we will utilize in,
[12:42] in the third project, which is the
[12:44] classification and compensation study.
[12:46] So, as we mentioned in, in the beginning, all
[12:49] of the projects won't finish at the same time,
[12:52] but we're gonna kick them all off this.
[12:55] So, you know, all of the, the benefit of doing the audit,
[13:00] we'll use that as part
[13:01] of the classification and compensation setting.
[13:03] So we'll be able to set up the routines
[13:05] to make sure we understand who's making what, you know,
[13:08] what the roles are and, and those sorts of things.
[13:11] So, you know, the key for us is,
[13:13] is I think the deliverables are fairly clear, is trying
[13:16] to get the project done efficiently
[13:20] from a financial perspective, which I think we proposed.
[13:23] Um, but also, so it, it, um, uh,
[13:28] is less of a burden on whomever's part of it for, um,
[13:32] the city, whether it's the council administration or,
[13:35] or supervisors, managers, um, those groups.
[13:38] So that's kind of our approach, you know, and,
[13:41] and what we're proposing, uh, would love to, to talk further
[13:45] questions and, and be able to, um,
[13:48] make sure there's a joint understanding for sure.
[13:50] Are are, excuse me, you're Dan.
[13:52] I'm Dan. Okay. Dan. Yeah, I'm sorry.
[13:53] I shoulda introduced myself. Yeah, I'm, I'm actually the,
[13:56] the president of Global Awards.
[13:57] Thank you. Did you come here from Townson?
[14:00] Um, I did. I did.
[14:01] I actually, I lived in Cincinnati, but
[14:03] whenever I, I I lived in Northern Virginia for a long time,
[14:06] so whenever I come back,
[14:07] I spend some time in our corporate offices in house. So
[14:11] I'm not gonna start with the questions, I just wanted
[14:13] to clarify who you were, and if somebody comes on at seven
[14:15] 30, we'll make time to hear from them if they have things
[14:17] to, but for now,
[14:19] I'm gonna let the council ask some questions.
[14:21] Sure. And I'll start with, uh, Cynthia.
[14:23] Cynthia, are you prepared for open questions?
[14:28] She's getting a bath. What'd she say? She's
[14:31] Getting run by.
[14:34] She, Cynthia, miss Cynthia,
[14:35] you're on mute if you're talking.
[14:39] Cynthia was just in Florida, so she's
[14:41] Now, now can you hear me?
[14:43] Yes. Yes, we can. Oh, I was saying,
[14:46] I really didn't get enough information to ask questions,
[14:48] so I'll stay mute until I hear something
[14:51] Come out that I'm interested in. Thank you. Okay.
[14:54] I know ag acknowledge read this,
[14:55] Agnel, you have your questions Ready?
[14:59] Good evening. Um,
[15:03] I wanna refer the other council members to page 18
[15:07] of Bolton's proposal.
[15:09] Can you speak to the market survey
[15:14] and how you intend to conduct that,
[15:18] identify the peers
[15:20] and also the budgeted 20 hour,
[15:25] 20 half hour meetings.
[15:27] Um, talk about those two components of the project please.
[15:33] So the, uh, 20 half hour meetings
[15:36] are, um, utilized.
[15:39] What are the terms that gets thrown around is a desk audit,
[15:42] but if, if we feel like we need to meet with an employee,
[15:45] uh, employee manager directly
[15:48] to make sure we understand the job, that's when we meet
[15:51] with the employee to make sure we
[15:53] understand what their role is.
[15:54] Um, it's hard to know how many of those we'll need to have,
[15:58] but as we looked at the, the, the budget, um,
[16:00] we included 20 of those.
[16:02] Um, as part of the scope of the study, uh, in terms
[16:07] of the survey process, we have something that's called our,
[16:10] our total rewards data exchange.
[16:12] And it's something that we use in the, um,
[16:15] the government sector.
[16:16] It allows us to, uh, get the highest level of participation.
[16:21] So we will work with you and,
[16:23] and this will be one of those communication questions.
[16:26] Um, how, how, who's, who has what input in terms of
[16:30] what the peers are basically, you know, um,
[16:32] I think we can come up with a starting point from some
[16:35] of our other studies, um, in the, the DC metro area.
[16:39] But certainly we would want, uh, council to bless and,
[16:43] and approve what that list is, um, who we're comparing to.
[16:47] And then, um, you may
[16:49] or may not want administration to have input.
[16:52] Uh, usually you do.
[16:54] Um, and certainly we would welcome that
[16:56] to understand who those peers are.
[16:58] Um, from a competitive's perspective,
[17:01] we actually will reach out to, there's 15 organizations
[17:06] that are going to be invited.
[17:08] Uh, we'll contact them directly, usually through their,
[17:10] their heads of HR or Chief HR officers
[17:14] and get from them person by person, pay data, you know,
[17:18] it's unidentified by name.
[17:20] Uh, but we get person by person information in terms of
[17:23] what their jobs are, departments are, pay rates,
[17:28] variable pay, um, a lot of those other components that,
[17:31] that allow us to, uh,
[17:32] really predict the market very accurately.
[17:35] Um, and, and from our perspective
[17:38] as compensation professionals in, in a,
[17:41] a very statistically valid way, um, as,
[17:44] as a, as an approach.
[17:46] Did that help answer the question?
[17:49] Yes. Um, in your experience, how willing are these peers,
[17:55] uh, willing to commit the time to move onto surveys?
[18:00] Because I understand this would be without any particular
[18:02] compensation to the organizations we would
[18:06] be reaching out to. Right?
[18:08] Well, there is, there is compensation in the sense
[18:11] that we will summarize the results at the end,
[18:15] and that way we would include data from, from the city,
[18:18] from New Carrollton and give them a participant's report.
[18:21] So they would get the results in a very summarized fashion,
[18:25] um, to, to be able to use for their own analysis, uh,
[18:30] if they wanted to do that, I will, I will say we're, we,
[18:33] we tend to be very good at it based on how we collect data.
[18:37] It's not a lot of matching.
[18:38] All they really have to do is get to know Bolton,
[18:40] and in this area, they will, so that they have confidence.
[18:43] We're gonna treat their data confidentially.
[18:46] Um, it's not going to get out to others.
[18:48] So from there, it's usually kind of a download of their,
[18:51] My friend.
[18:55] Good evening. Sorry, go ahead.
[19:00] No, I, I, I think, I think that was a, a good way to,
[19:03] to make me stop.
[19:04] That's good.
[19:06] Um, sorry, it was an interruption, uh,
[19:11] expected interruption here.
[19:13] Um, are you, I wanna let you finish
[19:16] before I do the follow up question.
[19:19] I think I did. Um, unless,
[19:20] unless I didn't answer your question.
[19:23] No, you did. Um,
[19:26] how confident are you on the timeline proposed of 12
[19:31] to 14 weeks in completing the three phases?
[19:36] Uh, I'm very confident based on those areas
[19:38] that Bolton has control over, um,
[19:41] there are certain areas like getting the,
[19:43] the management meetings scheduled, um,
[19:46] with the city administration and, uh, council members.
[19:51] Uh, certainly there are priorities other than the study
[19:54] that, that the city will have.
[19:56] And we can't force you to meet within
[19:58] that timeframe necessarily.
[20:00] So that's why we have the caveat around, you know, uh,
[20:04] scheduling meetings on a timely basis,
[20:06] providing information on a timely basis.
[20:08] And we're not looking for urgency.
[20:10] It's just you, you can't be strung out too far, for sure.
[20:14] Okay. And, uh, lastly,
[20:17] and, um, please excuse me if I'm not remembering the
[20:21] complete proposal, uh, completely or accurately.
[20:25] Do you, uh, provide any support
[20:29] after the final report it's delivered when the city
[20:33] is actually into the implementation
[20:34] of all the recommendations,
[20:36] or that would be an additional, uh, commitment task to
[20:41] engage Bolton with?
[20:44] We, we provide technical support, um, endless phone calls,
[20:49] uh, uh, in terms of, of, depending on
[20:52] what actually gets implemented in terms
[20:54] of the recommended compensation system or,
[20:57] or, you know, organizational structure
[20:59] changes, those sorts of things.
[21:01] Uh, there is a limit to that.
[21:03] And depending on what is needed, if, if it's a lot
[21:06] of hands-on or something, it is something
[21:08] that would be outta scope of this study.
[21:10] It's just too hard to predict, you know, ultimately
[21:13] what assistance the city would need.
[21:15] Um, either communicating the program, um, kind of getting in
[21:20] and, and looking at at other software solutions potentially.
[21:24] It's just, it's, it's such a broad scale, broad scope.
[21:27] It'd be very hard to get our arms
[21:28] around at this point in terms
[21:29] of financially what that would be.
[21:32] But what, what can you offer as part of the project
[21:37] if Bolton is engaged
[21:39] after that final report is delivered in some months
[21:44] or weeks go by
[21:45] and the cities into the getting ready
[21:49] to implement whatever recommendations
[21:53] As the city would be refining any particular
[21:55] recommendation we made and, and making it specific.
[21:59] Uh, we'll continue to have meetings, have discussions, um,
[22:04] you know, provide very quick, uh, email responses.
[22:08] All of those. We have probably have seven different, uh,
[22:12] clients right now that are sort of in that phase.
[22:15] And, um, those are all part of any ongoing relationship.
[22:19] So it's, it's helping them understand, um,
[22:23] the ways to communicate.
[22:24] We'll do a lot of review of communication materials.
[22:28] So, um, what I've found is it's usually, um,
[22:33] fairly clear to the client and, and Bolton,
[22:36] but fairly clear to the client,
[22:38] what's an actual more major task, you know, that
[22:41] that requires a, a, a lift
[22:43] and something that might be out scope.
[22:45] It's, it's usually understood.
[22:48] Thank you so much. Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
[22:51] And let me go to Lincoln. You ready? Lincoln?
[22:53] Any questions, Brian? Okay.
[22:57] Let Brian go last. Oh, okay. First one. Very good.
[23:00] Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you,
[23:02] Dan, for your presentation.
[23:03] I just have a couple of questions.
[23:04] Actually, my colleague took two questions off of my list.
[23:08] Um, but I noticed that you 40 years of experience
[23:11] and you have 150 member staff, which is really great.
[23:14] I was impressed by that. And you've also worked
[23:17] with municipalities here in Prince George's County already,
[23:19] including Greenbelt and Bowie.
[23:21] That was impressive to me as well. Is that
[23:22] Correct? Yeah, as
[23:23] well as, um, uh, I, I could number of, um,
[23:27] clients we have on the benefits
[23:29] and actuarial side, uh, are all over the area.
[23:33] Um, surprised that that, uh,
[23:37] is not one of our clients, frankly.
[23:39] Very,
[23:45] which I've probably heard a little bit about.
[23:47] What, I'm hoping that you can go into a little bit more
[23:49] detail, the comp managers database.
[23:53] Mm-hmm. As I understand it,
[23:54] there are 500,000 records in it based on what I read
[23:58] and your proposal
[23:59] and how it will help you complete the project here
[24:03] for the city council to move forward.
[24:05] So it'll be very specific, really, it'll be populated
[24:09] during the, um, the audit.
[24:11] We'll use data on employees jobs, uh, those sorts of things,
[24:16] uh, to bring it into it.
[24:17] It's a system that we use to, uh, classify jobs,
[24:22] uh, job descriptions if necessary, uh, to, uh,
[24:26] develop pay structures and grading and evaluation.
[24:30] So it's, it's, I like to describe it as a really,
[24:33] really robust, uh, Excel workbook, uh, with a lot of tables,
[24:37] but it's an access database, so it manages the data well,
[24:42] uh, we have those 500,000 records of published survey data,
[24:47] so we're going to do the custom survey of peers,
[24:50] and we'll bring those results into it.
[24:52] But already in the database, there's data from, um, uh,
[24:56] Willis Towers Watson.
[24:58] There's data from, uh, Mercer.
[25:01] We have the National Recreation
[25:03] and Parks Association, um, you know, for water utilities,
[25:07] for golf courses, um, all of these other sources
[25:10] that are already published.
[25:12] And then there is a, a, a source
[25:13] that's from the local HR association that is one of the best
[25:18] local sources that you could find around the country
[25:21] of the DC market.
[25:23] So for all of those jobs that, uh, are,
[25:26] are non-governmental, that, that might fit, uh,
[25:30] those are certainly some resources we could use to do
[25:32] that kind of matching as well.
[25:35] Thank you for the clarity in the detail response.
[25:37] The only question I have is, can you explain to me
[25:40] what the career stream whole job evaluation
[25:44] is and what it entails?
[25:46] It is a series of job, families and career levels,
[25:49] and it's what we use as a classification tool.
[25:52] So, um, we would start by, um, taking,
[25:57] you know, your, your head of finance, for example.
[26:00] Um, that role would fall into our finance family, um,
[26:05] based on the size of the city.
[26:07] Um, we know that would be a management role,
[26:09] but we have five levels of management
[26:12] that are progressively more responsible
[26:14] and have a bigger impact.
[26:16] So we would match your job to that level of finance.
[26:21] So a, a, a director level
[26:23] or certainly could be something more than that, you know,
[26:27] depending on how you treat the role.
[26:28] What that allows us to do is both match it to market as well
[26:33] as as developed career progressions.
[26:35] So, um, when, when Matrix,
[26:38] and I know Jen Winter is on the line now, um,
[26:41] as they do the, the, the, the organizational assessment, one
[26:45] of the things that we try and align are, are those,
[26:47] those management levels of, of department heads
[26:50] and size of departments, some of those scope items.
[26:53] And it fits in well with the, the level systems.
[26:56] When you get into support roles
[26:58] or individual contributor, uh, professional roles,
[27:02] it's a built in mechanism to help develop career levels.
[27:05] Um, it certainly, it needs to be balanced with, with budget
[27:09] and, and what's approved from a position perspective,
[27:12] but it does help align some career
[27:14] path and, and have that built.
[27:17] Thank you, sir. Yeah, absolutely. I have no further
[27:19] Questions, Mr. Chair, before
[27:20] I go to Brianna, Jen is on the line.
[27:22] Jen, can you hear us?
[27:25] Hello? Yes, I can. Thank you. Okay.
[27:27] And if you hear the next, we, two
[27:29] of us are gonna ask questions now, three of us already have.
[27:32] If you have Dan, if you want her to jump in,
[27:34] if she's the appropriate responder, that's fine.
[27:36] Thanks for being part of the conversation, Jen.
[27:38] I will go to Brianna. Brianna hasn't had a chance.
[27:40] Do you have any questions, Brianna?
[27:42] Yes. Uh, bear with me one second.
[27:44] I noticed in, uh, your, uh, project, uh,
[27:49] response that you've worked with a lot of our peer cities,
[27:52] uh, not peer cities, but neighboring cities such
[27:54] as Green Belt, Hyattsville, Laurel, Cal, Mar Manor,
[27:57] Riverdale Park, these are University Park,
[27:59] these are all towns and cities very close
[28:01] to us in proximity.
[28:02] What kinds of projects did you do for them?
[28:06] Um, it's, it's a, um, a variety of projects.
[28:10] Um, uh, certainly compensation.
[28:12] Uh, I know, um, matrix has done several projects including,
[28:17] uh, with Tacoma Park.
[28:18] And, sorry, Jen, I could've let you answer.
[28:21] Um, and then historically it could be a health
[28:24] and welfare consulting.
[28:26] Uh, or it could be, um, actuarial
[28:28] or investment consulting on, um, pension plans.
[28:32] Um, It would be any, any one
[28:34] of those within the, the, the services.
[28:37] Okay. Uh, is there any, Jen,
[28:40] do you have any more detail potentially,
[28:42] because I do think that this is a,
[28:44] a huge advantage you have given, um, the proximity
[28:47] that those cities have to us, if the study is similar, that
[28:51] some of the work has been done already for us.
[28:53] Uh, Greenbelt is less than two miles from us.
[28:56] Riverdale Park is less than two miles from us,
[28:58] but if they were very different projects, I, I don't see how
[29:01] that would, I mean, that wouldn't weigh against you, but,
[29:04] Uh, yeah, most of the,
[29:06] the projects on our list were operational,
[29:09] so full management consulting studies.
[29:11] So the piece of it that we always do, um, independently
[29:15] as a management consulting firm
[29:16] or with Bolton, is the operational organizational
[29:20] and staffing assessments.
[29:21] So in some of those cases, our projects were, um,
[29:25] a much deeper dive into operations than
[29:27] what your scope requires.
[29:29] So we do, uh, a deeper comparison
[29:31] of best management practice process and operations.
[29:34] So that part would be a little bit different.
[29:36] Um, yeah, I don't think you're asking us to go into
[29:38] that level of detail, but the staffing and
[29:40] and organization is fairly similar.
[29:42] Um, again, I would say probably in most cases, a lot
[29:45] of those projects that are on our list were, um,
[29:48] probably a little bit deeper dives than
[29:50] what you guys are asking for.
[29:51] So when we get into, um, uh, complete resource and,
[29:56] and staffing analysis versus sort of like looking at the,
[29:59] at the gap comparisons, um, organizational, the,
[30:03] the primary task of organizational structure is very
[30:05] similar, very relevant.
[30:07] Um, in most cases, when we're looking at
[30:09] that organizational structure, we're looking for, um, just,
[30:12] you know, do the placement of functions make sense?
[30:14] Is span of control of supervisors adequate?
[30:18] Do, um, our positions set up, you know, that's where we work
[30:21] with Bolton to figure out, okay,
[30:22] do positions have the career progression that they need?
[30:25] Do we need to recommend some additional tiers to be able
[30:28] to allow for, uh, for career development?
[30:30] So I think the organizational review in the staffing
[30:34] oversight piece of it that you guys are requesting is,
[30:37] is very similar to what we did in most of those locations.
[30:41] Alright. And then the last question I have is, uh,
[30:44] it's similar to the question council member Mave asked
[30:46] regarding, uh, timeline.
[30:48] Uh, it says that, that there's three to four weeks for the,
[30:51] uh, employee pay audit.
[30:54] I actually think that that possibly could
[30:55] be done a lot faster.
[30:56] We don't have as large, uh, staff as some of these other,
[30:59] uh, peer like cities that you've worked with.
[31:01] And we use Paycom for our records management.
[31:05] Do you think that it'd be possible that
[31:07] that could be even more expeditious than
[31:09] your projected forecast?
[31:11] Um, it certainly could.
[31:13] It, it's not something I would commit to right now,
[31:16] you know, certainly 'cause we
[31:17] don't know what the records are.
[31:19] Um, but yeah, I mean, we will do it as expeditiously
[31:22] as possible for sure.
[31:23] Um, and,
[31:24] and I will say, uh, I don't know at
[31:27] what point you'd be ready to select and kick off, uh,
[31:30] but we, we do work to deadlines.
[31:33] So, you know, if there's, there's something pressing, uh,
[31:35] sometimes we can, um, get deliverables together, uh,
[31:41] not quicker necessarily for the full piece of that,
[31:43] but if there's some informational,
[31:45] uh, items that are needed.
[31:46] Um, the only thing I, I guess I've mentioned too, in terms
[31:49] of the local market, uh, I think the benefit really
[31:53] of having worked with the other organizations in the area
[31:57] is really our ability to, um, uh, get them to participate
[32:02] in survey, uh, that we have relationships there
[32:05] and we can, um, uh, work on those relationships.
[32:09] I think particularly with, with some of the operational
[32:13] and organizational studies, there's a tremendous, a lot of,
[32:16] uh, tremendous amount of really smart practice
[32:19] that's out there that that matrix has worked on from cities,
[32:23] you know, California, Oregon, um,
[32:25] certainly there's the conditions of being in Maryland and,
[32:28] and, and whatever that would be
[32:29] legislatively and operationally.
[32:31] But, um, I, I think that, that we're able to bring a lot
[32:34] of great ideas, um, outside of what Tacoma Park would have
[32:38] or, or Greenbelt.
[32:40] Um, and then, you know, interestingly enough, uh,
[32:44] I live in Cincinnati
[32:46] and I grew up really close to, uh, green Hills, Ohio,
[32:50] which is one of those, the, the three greens, you know,
[32:53] back, back from the day.
[32:54] So.
[32:56] Well, thank you so much. I don't have any other questions.
[32:59] All right. We've used up your
[33:00] time, but I have a couple questions.
[33:01] One, I'll start by complimenting you when I read this,
[33:04] I've read through six of these
[33:05] and I think this was, I found this concise right
[33:09] to the point on how you would attack each of our challenges.
[33:11] So thank you. I think you did an excellent job with that.
[33:14] Um, and you mentioned in responding
[33:17] to Brianna about anything that's pressing
[33:20] and when we would make the selection, just keep in mind
[33:22] that we have to approve a budget that begins July one,
[33:26] and we start working on it in March, April timeframe.
[33:28] We see it and start having meetings,
[33:30] and our budget is going to be detailed with line items
[33:35] for the different positions.
[33:36] And you'll be looking at salaries
[33:38] and we wanna budget salaries.
[33:40] So that would be something pressing as you do your work,
[33:43] that if you were coming up with recommendations
[33:45] that changed from what we've had
[33:47] before, we'd wanna know that, um, that,
[33:49] and then the, uh, the question I'd ask you to comment on is,
[33:52] um, you mentioned working with the administration
[33:55] and with the council, and you gotta work with the employees,
[33:58] but the stakeholders include the public too.
[34:01] So what's your experience with coming to a council meeting
[34:03] and sharing progress reports,
[34:05] even if it's virtually or sending Jen?
[34:07] I mean, is that something you can do too? Oh yeah,
[34:09] Certainly. Um,
[34:10] we regularly present on, on the backend more often.
[34:14] Um, we, um, I anticipate in this project actually
[34:19] treating the council from an interview perspective to, um,
[34:23] as we would, uh, the senior management team.
[34:25] And that, that doesn't happen, um, that often.
[34:27] But, uh, certainly reporting back, um, back
[34:32] for the public record, you know, uh,
[34:34] do that further regularly.
[34:36] Thank you for coming in person.
[34:38] We have you on our agenda as being virtual.
[34:40] I guess you meant Jen, but I'm glad you came up
[34:41] here to share with us.
[34:43] Yeah, no, I, it was an
[34:44] excuse to go to the corporate offices.
[34:46] I try and stay away. But
[34:48] You came from Cincinnati
[34:49] to Towson just to come visit with us.
[34:51] I came, I, I just spent some time in Towson,
[34:54] but you know, the, the whole wa Baltimore,
[34:56] Washington getting around, nothing's easy.
[34:58] So I didn't stay in your proposal.
[34:59] That does raise a question.
[35:00] I didn't see anything about travel.
[35:02] Towson to here is a commute.
[35:04] It's, it's part of the, the price fixed. Okay.
[35:06] Yeah. Okay. You don't need hotels.
[35:08] You don't need miles. No.
[35:09] Okay, We're all set. Alright,
[35:11] I think we've covered everything. Thank you for being here,
[35:13] Dan. Thank you for your time.
[35:14] Yeah.
[35:17] And then our next presenter is supposed
[35:20] to be virtual, correct?
[35:21] They're online. They're online. Okay.
[35:24] And shift gears in your thinking, counsel to
[35:28] BRC, is that correct?
[35:29] Second, BRC consulting. Outstanding.
[35:40] Are they connected? Did they spoke first?
[35:44] Good evening everyone. There we go.
[35:47] On behalf of BR, the BRC team, I would like
[35:51] to thank you all for speaking with us regarding this project
[35:55] initiative opportunity.
[35:57] At this time, I would like for you all to meet the BRC team.
[36:02] I'm Harold Cooper, chief strategy officer
[36:05] and lead consultant with compensation audits.
[36:09] Good afternoon or good evening. I'm Juanita. Morning.
[36:12] I'm lead consultant for the organizational assessment.
[36:17] Good evening. Um, Amir Aziz.
[36:19] I'm supporting HR compliance and employee relations.
[36:23] And good evening everyone. My name is Adrian Hibbert
[36:26] and I am communication strategist and technical writer.
[36:30] Good evening. My name is Beverly Cooper
[36:33] and I'll serve as your project manager for this engagement.
[36:37] My responsibility will be to lead coordination
[36:41] and make sure that there are, there is alignment
[36:43] through all phases of this project.
[36:46] I will also serve as your primary point of contact.
[36:52] Thank you, Beverly. So our project
[36:57] timeline is very seamless.
[36:59] Um, we decided that we wanted to do parallel work streams,
[37:02] ensuring comprehensive analysis while meeting your fiscal
[37:05] year 2026 alignment needs.
[37:08] Now we do have multiple tasks running concurrently.
[37:10] So we are going to do task one, task two,
[37:13] and task three side by side.
[37:15] And this accelerated timeline leverages our proven
[37:18] frameworks and experienced team
[37:20] to deliver actionable insights quickly.
[37:22] So we do know that there is, um, quite a few piece of data
[37:26] that we would need to collect
[37:27] and, um, we just wanna make sure
[37:29] that we have the in hand in order for us to move forward
[37:32] with, um, going through this process.
[37:37] Now, these are our milestones and decision points.
[37:39] We made them, um, very clear.
[37:41] It's about two weeks in between each one except for between,
[37:45] um, week five and six.
[37:46] And that's where we're going to draft deliver, uh,
[37:48] our reports delivered for initial review and feedback.
[37:51] Week one, of course is our kickoff meeting
[37:53] and we collect our data during that week.
[37:56] And then by week three we are going to do employee surveys
[38:00] and we're going to do the classification, validation
[38:02] and then draft reports.
[38:04] And then week six we're gonna do the equity analysis
[38:06] and benchmarking.
[38:07] And then by week eight we will provide a final report
[38:10] and the implementation toolkit.
[38:13] And now I'll hand this off to my colleague Harold
[38:16] to go over, um, each timeline.
[38:19] Thank you. Adrie Task one compensation audit.
[38:23] This is gonna be a four week process pertaining
[38:26] to the overall project in which we will gather compensation
[38:31] data, analyze that information, review policy alignment,
[38:36] and identify outliers
[38:38] and examine fiscal alignment
[38:42] in reference to task two,
[38:44] organizational assessment and timeline.
[38:48] That's gonna be a four phase approach.
[38:51] BRC will conduct interviews, review organizational charts
[38:55] and structure, and also look at it
[38:58] and evaluate alignment as it pertains
[39:00] to strategic priorities.
[39:03] We will also provide department level summaries
[39:07] that will lend to meaningful leadership discussions
[39:09] and positive change management.
[39:11] What we're trying to do here is to ensure that
[39:14] workload equity distribution
[39:17] is fair across all job classifications.
[39:22] Hello, At this time we'll transition to Juanita.
[39:26] Thank you, Harold. So, um, as far
[39:29] as the compensation study, it is eight weeks
[39:32] and we would begin with the data review
[39:34] where we take a look at external.
[39:37] Um, we conduct surveys in weeks two, and then weeks three
[39:40] and four are external benchmarking.
[39:42] And we also look at the internal equity
[39:45] and do some modeling on that.
[39:47] Um, week five is for the salary grade review and design.
[39:51] And then week six models, the implementation of the costs
[39:55] and different scenarios.
[39:57] Um, in the last weeks week seven
[39:59] and eight, they're dedicated to the report finalization,
[40:02] leadership briefings,
[40:04] and also any support materials to help guide
[40:07] and support rollout to leadership.
[40:10] Now in addition, um, these are the deliverables by phase
[40:14] and we wanna, I wanna talk about how we map them
[40:16] to each core task.
[40:18] So task one delivers a full compensation audit report.
[40:23] And then task two, we include the organizational summary
[40:26] sheets to provide department
[40:28] by department insights on the structure, role clarity,
[40:32] and also any opportunities for optimization.
[40:35] In task three, it produces the updated job classifications
[40:39] and also revised market competitive salary structure, um,
[40:43] with pay grade recommendations.
[40:45] And in our final phase, we provide an implementation tool
[40:49] and that includes any rollout guidance, any cost scenarios,
[40:53] the communication plans
[40:54] and strategies to maintain long-term sustainability.
[40:58] And each of these phases, um, along with the task,
[41:01] helps build toward an end-to-end solution that's clear,
[41:05] actionable, and ready for audit.
[41:16] Thank you for giving us this opportunity, um,
[41:19] to present to you this evening.
[41:21] Um, we're excited, um, about this transformative engagement
[41:26] and our team is ready to deliver insights
[41:28] and tools you need to build a more equitable, competitive
[41:32] and sustainable compensation structure.
[41:35] Um, we're ready to answer your questions at this time
[41:38] and we definitely welcome your feedback.
[41:43] Okay. So I'm gonna start with this time.
[41:45] We can go back to, um, Agnel.
[41:47] Are you ready for ERC?
[41:55] I need a few more minutes
[41:56] To review my notes.
[41:57] Cynthia? Cynthia,
[42:03] Cynthia on mute?
[42:11] Yes. Okay, well let's go to Brianna. Okay,
[42:14] I'm off mute.
[42:15] Cynthia, You say that some of some of the things
[42:19] to be working on at the same time, so like
[42:22] everybody has their own team
[42:24] to be working on certain subjects at the same time.
[42:30] Yes, I will. I will step in. Yes. Um, absolutely.
[42:33] So Harold and I talked about how there's eight weeks
[42:36] for the entire process.
[42:38] So he will be leading, um, the team as far
[42:40] as the compensation study,
[42:42] and I will be the lead on the organizational assessment.
[42:45] That's so we can work hand in hand in hand
[42:47] and in tandem with one another
[42:49] to not only ensure our guidelines are met,
[42:51] but that we're in sync with the information
[42:53] that we are gathering to actually support the process in
[42:56] full and ensure that we have a good robust process in order
[43:01] to deliver, um, the actual tools
[43:03] and good documentation as well as a great understanding
[43:06] of the organization and what needs to happen next.
[43:09] So when you give us a report, it'd be one big report
[43:12] where all of it combined.
[43:16] Carol, do you wanna answer?
[43:17] From my perspective, at the end of the day,
[43:19] we will deliver a full report inclusive
[43:22] of our recommendations and our findings,
[43:25] but there will be reporting in the midst of that,
[43:28] that might be separate,
[43:30] but at the end we will bring all of that together
[43:33] for a full presentation.
[43:34] And recommendations.
[43:36] Uh, yes. To piggyback off of what Juanita just stated,
[43:38] ma'am, there will be an executive summary, Madam Vice chair.
[43:42] And what we will have in that executive vice, uh,
[43:46] executive summary is a detailed analysis
[43:50] of all the sections associated with this process.
[43:53] In reference to the compensation audit piece,
[43:56] there'll be extensive data associated with
[44:00] how we came up with strategies that we're recommending
[44:03] that you all implement.
[44:04] And the same is so so for the organizational structure, uh,
[44:09] initiative that's outlined in this profile.
[44:12] All right, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[44:15] Okay, thank you Cynthia.
[44:17] And let me, uh, lemme let Brianna go while I,
[44:20] now we still gather your thoughts.
[44:21] Brianna, you ready with questions?
[44:23] Yes, sure. Um, uh, good evening.
[44:26] Where are you guys located? Just curious.
[44:29] We're based in the metro Atlanta area.
[44:32] Okay. So I saw that travel, um, uh, costs in there.
[44:36] So you're not local.
[44:37] Uh, do you anticipate having to travel more than once, uh,
[44:41] to complete this assignment?
[44:44] Um, no. I don't anticipate that we'll have
[44:45] to travel more than once to complete the assignment.
[44:49] Perfect. And then, uh, I had one other question.
[44:52] Of course it's escaping me.
[44:54] I've been writing notes while everyone's been talking,
[44:56] and then I don't remember to write down what I wanna ask.
[44:58] Um, bear with me one second.
[45:00] I think I'll find it as I, uh, when I go back to
[45:04] the section I was looking at, um,
[45:08] if I don't find it, maybe,
[45:09] maybe Agnel has the same question as me.
[45:12] Uh, uh, bear with me a second.
[45:21] You know what? I can't, there was something that,
[45:23] that I saw in the presentation when I was reading it
[45:25] that I cannot recall right now.
[45:27] I don't remember being a very serious problem,
[45:30] but, uh, if I, if I come up with a question, I,
[45:34] I have all the ways to contact you.
[45:35] So thank you so much. Thank
[45:37] You. We, we can come back to
[45:38] you. Let's see if I acknowledge
[45:39] ready with her her questions.
[45:43] Good evening. Um, I would tell you that
[45:47] I love the detail of the deliverables
[45:51] as presented in your proposal
[45:53] because it gives, it gave me an opportunity to
[45:59] say those are the answers we're looking for.
[46:02] There's all these questions, um, that this council
[46:07] has identified.
[46:09] Um, and so
[46:11] having the deliverables map out so clearly
[46:16] by each of the tasks help crystallize
[46:22] that you organization your company,
[46:26] has a clear view of what we're looking for.
[46:31] And there's one sentence, um, particularly that I wanna read
[46:35] because it's something for us to all keep in mind, um,
[46:39] internally as we're working on this
[46:41] and how the three tasks are connected is the
[46:46] organizational assessment serves as the bridge
[46:50] between historical compensation practices
[46:54] and the future focus compensation study.
[46:58] So we need to know our history in order to plan our future.
[47:02] We're interested in identifying
[47:05] what happened in the past without assigning blame,
[47:09] just knowing what was done and what can we do better.
[47:13] And I think your proposal does address that.
[47:17] Um, can you speak a bit into
[47:23] how the market survey would be conducted
[47:26] and the identification of peers?
[47:29] Yes, Madam uh, Councilwoman, first
[47:32] and foremost, we would take a deep dive into the existing
[47:37] structure that you have now.
[47:39] You have 30 pay grades, you have 25 steps.
[47:42] We'll look at your total budget. I know that, uh, Mr.
[47:46] Chairman stated that you all will be working on a budget
[47:49] for the July 1st new fiscal year.
[47:52] And what we'll do is we'll take a look at your positions.
[47:55] You have 52 positions.
[47:56] We'll take in consideration
[47:58] that you have 17 exempt positions
[48:00] and that you have 30 unified collective bargaining positions
[48:04] and five non-exempt positions.
[48:07] And we will look at where your current salaries are.
[48:10] Now, one of the key things
[48:12] to any market data study is looking at trends
[48:17] in your area and nationally.
[48:19] So with new Carrollton being roughly under 14,000
[48:24] or maybe 14,000 citizens, we will look at cities
[48:29] and towns of like size such as Oxen Hills, Maryland,
[48:34] such as Fall Church Virginia, such
[48:36] as Temple Hills, Maryland.
[48:38] And we will take in consideration their population.
[48:43] And when you do the aggregate, when you average it out,
[48:47] that's just under 14,000 as a collective.
[48:52] And we will look at their trends in terms
[48:54] of their salary impact.
[48:57] We'll look at the number of employees they have.
[48:59] Is it on par with New Carrollton having 78 employees?
[49:03] Those are the things we'll do.
[49:05] We'll take the deep dive first from the local area,
[49:08] and then we'll look at that like positions nationally
[49:13] and, and do our aggregate and our comparisons
[49:16] and synthesize the data at that particular point.
[49:19] But we will also keep in mind that the budget is paramount.
[49:23] And again, your biggest stakeholders
[49:26] and your biggest resources are those 14,000 citizens
[49:29] that make up new Carrollton.
[49:33] Thank you. Um, my,
[49:39] maybe not my last question, but my last question right now.
[49:43] Can you clarify for me the total cost of your proposal?
[49:47] 'cause when I look at page 41 mm-hmm. I'm confused.
[49:51] Um, first line of cost proposal in billing terms
[49:56] says total 38,500.
[50:02] Then there's a breakdown for each of the tasks.
[50:05] And then I get a total that's 77,000.
[50:10] So I do apologize for that.
[50:11] We had, um, a, um, um, what do you call it?
[50:16] A we had the, the calculator working there.
[50:20] So the total cost of the proposal, we had a formula there.
[50:24] I'm sorry, that's the word I was looking for is $38,500.
[50:28] Okay. So instead of repeating that at the bottom, you know,
[50:31] the formula calculated the three,
[50:35] the the total plus the line item. So that was a mistake.
[50:39] That's what I gathered, but I wanted a confirmation. Yes.
[50:43] Um, was the paper said differently? Yes. So thank you.
[50:48] Um, back to you Mr. Chair.
[50:51] Uh, thank you. That's a big typo. Mm-hmm.
[50:54] Um, but price isn't the only factor to see.
[50:57] Who have I not heard from Lincoln? You have questions for?
[51:00] Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you all very much
[51:02] for your detailed presentation.
[51:05] Um, I noted when I was going through your proposal
[51:07] that the company was founded in 2021.
[51:11] It sounds like you all are a fairly new
[51:12] corporation, which is fine.
[51:14] Um, no issues. But I wanted to know, have you worked
[51:18] with other municipalities in the past on similar projects?
[51:22] And if so, have you done any in Maryland
[51:24] or Prince George's County?
[51:27] Um, yes. We, um, are currently working on a project
[51:31] with a, a housing authority in Connecticut.
[51:34] We have not done any work in the Maryland
[51:37] or Prince George's County area. Fair
[51:40] Enough. Thank you for that honest
[51:41] answer.
[51:42] Um, and in my humble opinion, when I was looking at this
[51:45] and, and I guess you're doing
[51:47] all three tasks simultaneously.
[51:49] Mm-hmm. It seems to me like eight weeks was an aggressive
[51:51] time timeframe, which is fine.
[51:54] And I'm, I'm sure that, you know,
[51:55] you are capable of getting that done.
[51:57] But what I wanna know is that your company's standard
[51:59] for doing projects of this size and scope.
[52:03] So we have our teams, um, that are set aside
[52:07] to work on each phase of the project.
[52:09] And so we are prepared, um, to meet the deadline
[52:14] and to, uh, ensure
[52:15] that all tasks are completed on time and within budget.
[52:20] Fair enough. And last
[52:21] but not least, is there a grace period or follow up period
[52:24] after the final deliverables have been delivered for us
[52:28] to ask questions about implementation
[52:30] or anything that we may be concerned about?
[52:33] So, um, if, if whatever questions you have, um,
[52:36] after the project has been completed, we're,
[52:39] we're definitely available to assist
[52:42] and answer any questions you may have.
[52:44] And there's no specific, um,
[52:46] time period in which you can ask those questions.
[52:50] Very good. Thank you very much. I have no
[52:51] Further questions. Okay. And
[52:52] I don't have any questions,
[52:53] but Harold, I wanted to let you know that, uh, your response
[52:57] to, uh, the stakeholders was an excellent response.
[53:00] Something I'm gonna take into
[53:01] consideration as we review these.
[53:02] And I appreciate your thoughts on that.
[53:04] And I also want you to know that I'll be considering, uh,
[53:07] we've, we've spoken with some firms that are more local
[53:10] and they may have some experience with Maryland,
[53:12] but does the other side of that is somebody coming from a
[53:15] distance may have an independent look
[53:17] that may be beneficial to us.
[53:19] So I'll be considering that. But I, that's all I have now.
[53:21] Brianna, did you, did we trigger?
[53:23] Yes, I did. Well,
[53:24] Council member Malva was able to help me.
[53:27] It was the question around the pricing and the numbers.
[53:29] That was one of the questions,
[53:31] but it, I do have one other question.
[53:33] Um, and it's, it's a question slash comment.
[53:37] What, uh, the catalyst for, for the council
[53:40] to take this action was, uh, learning about the salaries
[53:45] of the individual employees.
[53:47] We manage the, the council in, in
[53:49] for our city manages the budget,
[53:51] we manage the purse strings.
[53:52] However, uh, the way our budget was previously presented,
[53:55] only the director's salary was listed
[53:57] and all of the other employees salaries were listed under
[54:00] like, kind of an umbrella employee
[54:02] services for that department.
[54:04] So it was hard to know who was earning what.
[54:07] Uh, the council came
[54:09] and said information at the beginning of this mayor's term.
[54:11] And that was kind of what led the council
[54:13] to wanna take this action
[54:15] and to be point be frank, which you would be able
[54:17] to see at any, uh, council meeting
[54:18] that's taken place on the subject.
[54:21] Many of the council believed that the salaries, uh,
[54:23] from several, uh, employees are too high above market
[54:27] or not, uh, in line with
[54:29] what other professionals are earning here in the state
[54:32] of Maryland or across the region.
[54:34] Have you ever encountered that in your work previously
[54:37] where the aim was to right size salaries down
[54:42] as opposed to up?
[54:43] Because I feel like the way the, the way the language
[54:46] that you guys use talking about equity
[54:47] and things like that, it, look, I think
[54:50] that these things usually come from a place
[54:52] of let's making sure we're competitive so that we can retain
[54:54] and recruit the best employees.
[54:56] We, we are coming from it from a different lens.
[54:58] And so I just wanted to know if you could speak to that.
[55:02] Uh, Madam Council, if I can interject, uh,
[55:05] in my own professional experiences, I served
[55:08] as the human resources director for Henry County Government.
[55:11] It was the eighth largest county in the metro Atlanta area.
[55:15] And we had those issues
[55:17] where there was a huge disproportion in terms of salaries
[55:21] and things of that nature where we had 1600 employees
[55:25] and we had to address those issues.
[55:27] So one of the things that we did was create
[55:31] progression steps for those employees who needed
[55:34] to be brought up to speed,
[55:36] but also looked at reclassifying those positions
[55:41] that we felt was at an exorbitant amount.
[55:44] Now is that a difficult thing to do
[55:46] because you have to have difficult
[55:48] conversations with people?
[55:49] Sure, but it was the right thing to do
[55:51] because ultimately we have to put the taxpayers first, uh,
[55:56] on a, in a different, uh, career lens.
[55:58] When I served as a county administrator, I had
[56:02] to do the same thing where there was a huge disparity in the
[56:05] leadership pay in comparison to some
[56:08] of the other classifications.
[56:10] And we had to take a look at that
[56:11] and say, Hey, our needs have to be our wants
[56:14] and our wants have to be our needs in terms of
[56:17] being fiscally responsible.
[56:19] And what we did was we, we reclassified positions
[56:23] that may have been directors
[56:25] that probably should have been mid-level management
[56:28] positions and looked at the job classifications
[56:31] and the job descriptions to change them accordingly.
[56:34] Because again, when you're doing a classification
[56:37] and compensation study, it's all inclusive.
[56:40] It's not just the pay grades and the steps.
[56:44] It is taking a deep dive in those,
[56:46] looking at those positions.
[56:48] If it warrants doing a personnel analysis questionnaire
[56:51] where you're sitting down
[56:52] and doing desk audits with these employees, you do that
[56:57] and then you do that
[56:59] and you compare it to what the job really is entails
[57:03] and what it's supposed to be in terms of job functions.
[57:07] So again, you know, we understand that that may be
[57:12] a task that is not comfortable,
[57:15] but it's a task that's needed.
[57:16] And ultimately it's a task that at the end,
[57:20] those 13,544 citizens
[57:23] that make up new Carrollton will be appreciative
[57:25] of this council for doing such things.
[57:28] Thank you so much. That's a great
[57:30] answer. I have no other questions.
[57:32] You know, I just wanna second that,
[57:34] that was a great answer, Harold.
[57:35] Thank you for your insights on that.
[57:37] And, and the way residents have expressed it to me, Harold,
[57:40] is if we have salaries that are above the market rates
[57:44] or competitive rates, the extra money we're paying is money
[57:47] that we lose in providing other services such as parks
[57:50] and roads and things that we need money for.
[57:53] So that it just needs to be addressed.
[57:55] But thank you for that answer. I think that's,
[57:57] And thank you Mr. Chairman.
[57:58] Yeah, I think that's it.
[58:00] And I really appreciate you all being with us tonight.
[58:03] Sorry you couldn't come up with from Atlanta,
[58:05] but when you're, when you're up here,
[58:06] the travel costs are included
[58:07] in the number you gave us, right?
[58:10] The travel costs are, um, not included in the number.
[58:15] I think, um, the traffic, it's listed somewhere else. Yeah.
[58:18] It, it is listed somewhere else in the proposal.
[58:20] Okay. Okay. I didn't see it, but that's okay.
[58:24] Um, outstanding.
[58:26] We're gonna let you folks go
[58:27] and we have, we're almost on schedule.
[58:28] We have another presenter at eight o'clock. Okay.
[58:32] Thank you. Thank you all for this opportunity
[58:34] and thank you for you do for what you do for the citizens.
[58:37] Thank you sir. Thank You. Thank you for having us.
[58:40] Alright, good evening. Alright.
[58:43] We have
[58:45] MGT, are they online?
[58:49] Malaysia
[58:52] Is someone from MGT Impact Solutions online?
[58:55] Yes. Yes. Good evening.
[58:57] Okay.
[59:06] Are you ready for me to go ahead and get started?
[59:07] Oh yeah, we're ready. And just
[59:09] to highlight the instructions, I asked the administration
[59:11] to give you some guidance that you try
[59:13] to present your approach first
[59:15] and in five minutes if you can.
[59:17] And then give us more time for questions and answers,
[59:19] but use your time accordingly.
[59:21] We, we will be here to, to listen
[59:22] and to respond to your, to your input. You ready?
[59:26] Great. I am ready. Is it okay if I share my screen?
[59:30] I just have a short PowerPoint.
[59:31] I'll walk through and try to stick to
[59:32] that five minute, five minute timeline
[59:34] If you need a little more. What's your name?
[59:36] Yes, my name's Rachel Scaggs.
[59:38] I'm a vice president with MGT
[59:41] and looking forward to talking
[59:42] to you. Nice to meet you all.
[59:44] Okay. Um,
[59:48] it's not letting me share. Oh, here we go.
[59:52] At the bottom with the up arrow.
[59:54] Got it. We're teams, people. So then I'm sharing it here.
[59:57] I get confused. Can you see my screen now?
[1:00:01] We got it. It's kind of tiny,
[1:00:03] but we got it. There we go. Okay.
[1:00:05] Great. Alright. Good evening again.
[1:00:08] Thank you so much for allowing me some time to present.
[1:00:11] Really looking forward to this.
[1:00:12] Sorry, I was not able to be in person.
[1:00:14] We're all really busy with client work this week
[1:00:17] and I'm actually leaving to go onsite
[1:00:19] to a client tomorrow morning,
[1:00:20] so I couldn't attend in person.
[1:00:22] Really wish I could.
[1:00:23] Um, but again, thanks for allowing me to be here virtually.
[1:00:28] So I'm gonna skip over the agenda.
[1:00:30] I'm just gonna touch on a few things, uh,
[1:00:32] regarding our proposal
[1:00:33] and a high level overview of what we're doing.
[1:00:35] I think it's really important to note that, you know,
[1:00:38] at MGT our approach is always structured
[1:00:41] and data-driven and tailored.
[1:00:43] 'cause every community that we work
[1:00:44] with is a little bit different.
[1:00:46] All of our work is for public sector entities and agencies.
[1:00:49] We work with, um, a variety of different local governments,
[1:00:53] county governments, nonprofits, special service districts,
[1:00:57] and we have to tailor our work to fit our clients' needs.
[1:01:00] 'cause every community is a little bit different,
[1:01:02] but all of our work is structured and data-driven
[1:01:05] and we focus heavily on making sure
[1:01:07] that we establish a partnership
[1:01:09] and provide something that you're able to implement
[1:01:12] and use for a long time.
[1:01:13] We also emphasize transparency.
[1:01:16] We wanna be collaborative with the city staff
[1:01:19] and we also wanna adhere to any, um, applicable legal
[1:01:22] and regulatory requirements as well.
[1:01:25] I wanted to highlight some work
[1:01:26] that we've done in the region that you'll see up here.
[1:01:28] A lot of these were executive recruitment work
[1:01:31] and uh, studies, not necessarily classification
[1:01:35] and compensation, but other org assessments
[1:01:37] and executive recruitment work.
[1:01:38] So we work all over the United States
[1:01:40] and have, have done some work in your region as well.
[1:01:45] I'll talk a little bit about the scope and methodology.
[1:01:47] So there's four separate tasks.
[1:01:50] They'll kind of, um, some
[1:01:53] of them will overlap in what's being done
[1:01:55] and they'll sort of be done at the same time.
[1:01:57] But first task is the salary and pay increase audit.
[1:02:00] When we start a study,
[1:02:02] we always have a project kickoff meeting.
[1:02:04] That's where we really establish the team, the cadence
[1:02:06] of communication.
[1:02:08] We talk about the data
[1:02:09] and information that we're gonna need from you.
[1:02:11] There's always a huge data request at the beginning
[1:02:14] and we know that you and your staff and everyone's busy.
[1:02:17] But we do wanna make sure we get all that, that data
[1:02:19] and information up front so we don't have to bother that for
[1:02:22] or bother you for that later.
[1:02:23] So we have that data request.
[1:02:25] We establish a cadence of communication.
[1:02:28] We talk about the employee engagement,
[1:02:30] stakeholder engagement, what
[1:02:31] that's gonna look like throughout the process.
[1:02:34] And then we'll start that cola cost
[1:02:36] of living adjustment review, the salary audit.
[1:02:39] We'll put together recommendations.
[1:02:41] We'll provide an Excel model that goes through all of that
[1:02:44] and looks specifically at those
[1:02:46] increases and what they look like.
[1:02:47] And um, any recommendations from that.
[1:02:49] So that's kind of the first component.
[1:02:51] The next two, task two and three we'll kind of go together.
[1:02:55] First is that org assessment.
[1:02:57] But one thing that we always start
[1:02:59] with is determining a group of external comparables.
[1:03:02] And this is really important
[1:03:03] because we wanna determine a group of peers
[1:03:06] that are most similar to your city.
[1:03:08] So we're gonna look at things such as budget, employees,
[1:03:12] proximity per capita income, um,
[1:03:18] uh, there's other financial, I'm, I'm missing one right now,
[1:03:21] but there's a few other financial criteria.
[1:03:23] So we can really focus
[1:03:24] and look at communities that have a similar ability to pay.
[1:03:27] So we rank those using our methodology
[1:03:29] so there's a clear approach
[1:03:30] and communities that score the highest in our ranking
[1:03:33] or then the most similar to your city.
[1:03:36] And we will, uh, propose those to you.
[1:03:38] However, then we meet with you to have a discussion on that
[1:03:41] because we also understand,
[1:03:43] although they might be similar based on those financial
[1:03:46] criteria, uh,
[1:03:47] there still might be other competitors in the market.
[1:03:49] And I know that RFP specifically mentioned looking at the DC
[1:03:52] Metro and we wanna make sure we include all the peers
[1:03:54] that you want us to evaluate.
[1:03:57] So we'll have that discussion with you.
[1:03:58] We'll start the organizational structure
[1:04:00] and workflow review.
[1:04:02] Employees will fill out and complete a job analysis
[1:04:05] questionnaire and we'll do that job data review.
[1:04:09] We'll use, um, those peers that we established
[1:04:12] to then send out a custom market survey.
[1:04:15] And that survey will look at
[1:04:17] specific pay information benefits
[1:04:19] and also have some staffing questions in there
[1:04:22] so we can really understand
[1:04:23] and see what those comparable peers are doing in terms of
[1:04:26] that pay and benefits and staffing.
[1:04:28] And compare that to New Carrollton
[1:04:30] and look at that, what those differences are
[1:04:32] and make a recommendation on that.
[1:04:35] So we'll develop a classification and compensation plan.
[1:04:38] We'll review your current structure, make recommendations,
[1:04:40] potentially new classifications or grades or new step system
[1:04:45] and talk to you about what works best
[1:04:47] and our recommendations there.
[1:04:49] And then we'll also have recommendations on the
[1:04:51] organizational and staffing structure, realignment,
[1:04:53] looking at delivery, service delivery
[1:04:56] and meeting those needs.
[1:04:58] We also always provide up to 10 hours
[1:05:00] and sometimes even more, um, over three months
[1:05:03] after the final recommendations are
[1:05:06] provided for implementation questions.
[1:05:08] We want this to be something you can implement
[1:05:10] and use for many years.
[1:05:12] So we wanna make sure that we're there
[1:05:13] and you have us to answer any questions that come up.
[1:05:17] Um, if there needs to be a refresher training on the systems
[1:05:19] or tools or Excel models
[1:05:22] or if there needs to be an appeals process
[1:05:24] or review for specific positions
[1:05:26] or classifications that are maybe dissatisfied
[1:05:28] with some parts of it, we can review those for you.
[1:05:31] So we always provide that post study support
[1:05:34] for at least three months,
[1:05:35] but it can definitely be longer to make sure
[1:05:38] that it's a plan that you're really comfortable with.
[1:05:41] I'll just, I just have two more slides.
[1:05:43] I'll go into a little more detail on the
[1:05:45] survey data collection.
[1:05:47] So we use a custom market survey, um,
[1:05:50] and we also do our own outreach and research.
[1:05:54] So we use a custom market survey
[1:05:55] through a tool called Qualtrics
[1:05:57] that we'll send out to those peers.
[1:05:59] But we also always follow that up
[1:06:00] with our own outreach and research.
[1:06:03] We will benchmark all of your positions
[1:06:05] and we typically look at aiming to compare those to 10
[1:06:07] to 15 comparable entities.
[1:06:09] But we're open to sending that out to more.
[1:06:12] We'll work with you on a number
[1:06:13] that makes the most sense in terms of comparable peers
[1:06:17] in regards to what we'll need from the city, you know,
[1:06:19] again, we'll ask for all your org charts, rosters,
[1:06:22] job descriptions, policies, pay history, documentation,
[1:06:25] so we really get a good understanding of everything
[1:06:28] that has been going on and what we might need to look at um,
[1:06:31] as we survey those peers.
[1:06:32] And then also internally when we do those job evaluations,
[1:06:36] meet with employees, have those employee kickoff meetings
[1:06:39] and really understand, um, you know,
[1:06:41] all the concerns that are coming up.
[1:06:44] We'll look, when we do that external market survey,
[1:06:46] we look at uh, job matches, titles
[1:06:49] and descriptions, salary ranges, mid, mid and max.
[1:06:53] We look at starting placement practices, full
[1:06:56] step increases, uh, departmental staffing levels, number
[1:07:00] of positions and other organization specific questions
[1:07:03] that we'll work with you and your team on identifying.
[1:07:06] And then we'll also gather information
[1:07:08] as it relates to benefits.
[1:07:12] Uh, and then once we're complete with the study
[1:07:15] and we present our recommendations
[1:07:16] and report, again, we provide that support
[1:07:19] to the city afterwards up to three months or 10 hours.
[1:07:22] That's a little flexible because again, we want that
[1:07:25] to be a partnership
[1:07:26] and we wanna make sure it's
[1:07:27] something you can use and implement.
[1:07:29] We'll provide you with a copy of the final report, um,
[1:07:32] that we'll have recommendations on how
[1:07:34] to optimize op operations and enhance service delivery.
[1:07:38] You'll also get a copy of all the Excel files and modeling
[1:07:41] and all the data that's been collected.
[1:07:43] We have a classification
[1:07:44] and compensation manual that we will train the team on
[1:07:47] to make sure they understand how to use that going forward.
[1:07:50] Um, and then all of our plans
[1:07:54] and all of our systems ensure pay equity
[1:07:55] because we really focus on
[1:07:57] that internal equity which ensures the pay equity along
[1:08:00] with pay competitiveness, looking out
[1:08:02] to those comparable peers and durability.
[1:08:04] You know, we want the, these recommendations,
[1:08:07] the staffing org assessment, uh, the compensation plan
[1:08:11] to be something you can use for many years
[1:08:13] and you don't have to go out
[1:08:14] and do this again for at least five
[1:08:15] years, but hopefully longer.
[1:08:17] And then one thing that I always like
[1:08:19] to highlight, it's my favorite.
[1:08:20] I have a really great team. We work together really well.
[1:08:23] Um, we're timely, we're organized, we're efficient,
[1:08:26] and we just pride ourselves on that communication
[1:08:29] and teamwork with our clients
[1:08:30] and that partnership that we develop with them.
[1:08:32] It's also important to note that almost all of the studies
[1:08:35] that we've completed have been implemented by the client
[1:08:38] and a majority of our clients,
[1:08:40] or many of them are repeat clients,
[1:08:41] which I think is a huge testimony to the work that we do.
[1:08:45] And then last slide, when we look at the project timeline,
[1:08:48] we have a five month projected timeline.
[1:08:50] A lot of these uh, tasks will kind of overlap
[1:08:53] so they won't be as clear as shown in here on our proposal.
[1:08:57] Um, but we'll try to complete them in that order.
[1:08:59] However, there's a lot of overlapping things
[1:09:00] between the tasks that we'll work on as we go through that.
[1:09:05] So that is what I had. Thank you for allowing me.
[1:09:07] I'm sorry I probably went over the five minutes,
[1:09:09] but I'm happy to answer any questions at this time.
[1:09:13] No, you're the last one that I said we can wait around
[1:09:15] for you and I, uh, I appreciate the presentation.
[1:09:17] I was just studying that timeline.
[1:09:19] I have questions but I like to defer
[1:09:21] to the council members first.
[1:09:22] Let's see who's ready this time.
[1:09:24] Uh, Cynthia, are you unmuted And you have any questions?
[1:09:27] No, I think she pretty well answered my questions.
[1:09:31] Okay. Uh, Nelly, are you prepared with any questions?
[1:09:36] Um, just one, um,
[1:09:39] how much room is there from your perspective
[1:09:42] to compress that timeline?
[1:09:46] Yeah, there's definitely opportunities to compress that.
[1:09:48] There are some overlapping factors
[1:09:51] we usually build in some additional time
[1:09:53] because one of the hardest things is to um,
[1:09:57] get those responses from the peers.
[1:09:58] So we wanna make sure we have enough time to put
[1:10:00] that survey together to make sure we get that peer response.
[1:10:03] And then if we don't, we can do
[1:10:04] that additional peer research.
[1:10:05] However, we can definitely expedite that process.
[1:10:08] And then the other thing we build in some additional time
[1:10:10] for that we can expedite is the employee process.
[1:10:15] 'cause we need them to complete
[1:10:16] that job analysis questionnaire.
[1:10:18] We need supervisors to review that
[1:10:20] and then we conduct interviews or conversations.
[1:10:23] I like to call them conversations with employees
[1:10:25] to make sure we understand the duties of the position.
[1:10:28] So the timing for that, as long as um, we can kind
[1:10:31] of condense that and employees are aware of that
[1:10:33] and can get that information to us,
[1:10:35] we can definitely condense the timeline,
[1:10:37] uh, by a month or two.
[1:10:40] Thank you so much. Yeah, that's old
[1:10:45] Lincoln. You have any
[1:10:46] Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. I'll
[1:10:47] always start by some things
[1:10:49] that I noted from looking through your proposal.
[1:10:51] I see 50 years of experience, 1200 professionals
[1:10:56] and over 30,000 projects delivered.
[1:10:59] Very impressive. Um,
[1:11:01] and I also noticed that you worked with Greenbelt Maryland,
[1:11:04] which is one of our neighbors on a city manager
[1:11:07] performance evaluation process.
[1:11:08] Can you speak to that a little bit and what that entailed?
[1:11:11] Yeah, absolutely. That was my colleague Charlene
[1:11:14] Stevens who is awesome.
[1:11:15] She leads our executive recruitment practice
[1:11:18] and she was part of that.
[1:11:20] So one of our services
[1:11:21] that we provide are city manager evaluations.
[1:11:24] So oftentimes, uh, you know, you have an HR director
[1:11:28] that's helping the council facilitate the city manager,
[1:11:32] city administrator evaluation.
[1:11:33] And that sometimes puts the HR director in a bad position
[1:11:36] because that's her supervisor
[1:11:38] and she's helping facilitate that evaluation.
[1:11:40] So we provide that as a third party service where we come in
[1:11:44] and work with council on evaluation of that position.
[1:11:49] So that's what we did for them.
[1:11:51] Awesome. Thank you for that explanation. Yeah.
[1:11:54] Um, I have a question about the post-study support.
[1:11:58] You mentioned that the window of opportunity
[1:12:00] for that is three months.
[1:12:02] If we had questions beyond that timeframe,
[1:12:04] would there be extra fees assessed
[1:12:06] or would we be able to ask
[1:12:07] questions beyond the three months?
[1:12:09] Yeah, I smile when you say that
[1:12:11] 'cause I have so many clients that it's way beyond
[1:12:13] that three month timeline.
[1:12:14] And I'm always here to answer questions.
[1:12:16] We wanna be able to, you know,
[1:12:18] if it's simple questions on a job, want us
[1:12:21] to re-look at something, confirm something, send an email,
[1:12:23] there's no additional charge for that.
[1:12:25] We're more than happy to, um, do that.
[1:12:28] Beyond that, the three months is really for like,
[1:12:30] if there's any substantial, you know, reclassifications
[1:12:34] or updating the report to reflect something,
[1:12:37] that's really what that's for.
[1:12:39] But any questions, phone call, email
[1:12:41] that are simple questions that we can answer,
[1:12:43] there's no charge for that.
[1:12:44] Beyond that, if there's some additional work,
[1:12:47] like let's say there's a brand new position
[1:12:49] and you want us to do the full evaluation of that position,
[1:12:53] there's a set fee for that that we could do that
[1:12:56] as an add-on service.
[1:12:57] But general questions about the work that we've done
[1:12:59] and has been done, there's no additional fee for
[1:13:01] that. Thank
[1:13:03] You. Last question
[1:13:04] I noticed, or more
[1:13:05] or less a comment, I noticed your price point is very good.
[1:13:08] 29,475.
[1:13:10] Is that pretty much standard
[1:13:12] for projects of this size and scope?
[1:13:14] So the community size and employee size of your project?
[1:13:18] I love it. I managed a community of similar size,
[1:13:21] similar number of employees.
[1:13:22] So, uh, I love the size of the community
[1:13:25] and the number of employees.
[1:13:26] It really allows us to do a deep dive
[1:13:29] and uh, talk to almost every employee
[1:13:32] and really understand, uh, the organization.
[1:13:35] So in terms of the price point for a community your size,
[1:13:37] that's definitely very average
[1:13:39] and uh, probably you're probably getting a little more
[1:13:43] with the organizational assessment
[1:13:44] and staffing within that price point.
[1:13:46] Usually full class and comp run around 20 to 30,000.
[1:13:51] Thank you very much for answering all my questions.
[1:13:53] I appreciate it. I have no further questions.
[1:13:54] Okay. I think I haven't gone to,
[1:13:56] Can I just ask one more question? Sure.
[1:13:58] Go ahead Cynthia. Do you have one
[1:14:00] contact person for us to contact,
[1:14:05] Um, like if we were awarded the
[1:14:07] study for when we start the project?
[1:14:08] Is that what you're asking? Yes.
[1:14:10] Do we have to call a different section
[1:14:12] for anything we wanted or is there one
[1:14:14] particular person Yep.
[1:14:16] That we would call and they would take
[1:14:18] that and get the answer?
[1:14:19] That's correct. You would have a project lead
[1:14:21] that would be your main point of contact.
[1:14:23] We have subject matter experts too.
[1:14:25] Um, that will help throughout the process.
[1:14:27] You know, we have a lot of our consultants, almost all
[1:14:30] of our consultants have worked in local government.
[1:14:32] So we have, you know, former police chiefs, fire chiefs,
[1:14:35] HR directors that we sometimes use
[1:14:37] as sub subject matter experts.
[1:14:39] But you have one main contact person, one project manager,
[1:14:42] project lead, that's your point person that you go to
[1:14:46] for all all questions.
[1:14:48] Alright, thank you. Thank you chairman. Sure. Brianna?
[1:14:53] Yes. Um, I, I, I think, uh, the, some
[1:14:55] of us have similar types of questions here
[1:14:58] and I'll just be blunt as I'm, that's
[1:15:00] how people would describe me if they've met me one time.
[1:15:03] Your price point is a lot lower than a lot
[1:15:05] of the other ones we've seen,
[1:15:06] which obviously makes you a very attractive candidate,
[1:15:09] but at the same time it's so much lower than some
[1:15:12] of the other ones that I'm, I'm kind of surprised.
[1:15:14] Do you think that that's based on the volume of work
[1:15:16] that you're, that your, um, firm does or,
[1:15:20] or the level of expertise, what,
[1:15:22] why do you think, you know mm-hmm.
[1:15:24] Obviously you're just speculating
[1:15:25] 'cause you have no idea how those other people came up
[1:15:27] with their numbers, but I'm just kind of curious
[1:15:28] what your thoughts are on that.
[1:15:30] Yeah, no, usually I don't hear that.
[1:15:33] So I'm like a little shocked by that.
[1:15:36] I, I think that the hours that we've allotted
[1:15:39] for this project allows us to complete the work
[1:15:41] and what you're looking for within the allotted hours.
[1:15:45] So I feel like we might, um, you know, by combining those,
[1:15:49] looking at the compensation, we might be a little lower than
[1:15:53] we typically are on some of those.
[1:15:55] But that's the numbers that we've quoted, the hours
[1:15:57] that we've allotted, I think we can
[1:15:58] do the work and do it well.
[1:16:00] Again, this is the work that we do every day
[1:16:02] and we love doing this type of work.
[1:16:05] And another thing kind of along the same lines,
[1:16:06] let's say it takes us way more hours
[1:16:09] that we're not charging you more
[1:16:10] because this is the price
[1:16:11] that we quoted within the proposal.
[1:16:13] So there's not an increase in that fee for you.
[1:16:16] Alright. And then I have an additional question
[1:16:18] that I just asked the, the last, um, uh, presenter,
[1:16:22] so you might have had the benefit of hearing their answer.
[1:16:24] Um, the, what the catalyst for this effort
[1:16:27] for this engagement is
[1:16:29] that the council only recently became aware of
[1:16:32] what the salaries are for each individual employee working
[1:16:35] for the city prior to this, um, to this mayor taking office.
[1:16:39] Uh, it was not clear to the council
[1:16:42] how much each individual employee was making other than the
[1:16:45] directors of the various agencies.
[1:16:47] All of the salaries were kind
[1:16:48] of lumped into an employee services bucket, so it would say,
[1:16:51] you know, $3 million
[1:16:52] and we didn't really know how that broke down.
[1:16:54] And what led us to wanna take action on this was
[1:16:58] that several, uh, council members and staff
[1:17:00] and residents felt that some
[1:17:02] of these salaries were too high,
[1:17:03] which I think is probably not the norm in terms of
[1:17:06] what sets this work off.
[1:17:08] I I think that oftentimes folks wanna make sure
[1:17:11] that their city is retaining good employees
[1:17:13] and recruit able to recruit competitively.
[1:17:15] In our situation we may be lowering salaries.
[1:17:19] Um, have you had experience with that sort of element
[1:17:22] and how did that go when you had that experience?
[1:17:25] Yeah, so we have done many studies over,
[1:17:28] and I've been with MGT for almost seven years all on, um,
[1:17:32] classification and compensation, staffing and org analysis.
[1:17:35] And over that time I should have a better number of
[1:17:38] how many studies I've completed.
[1:17:40] And you're right, a majority
[1:17:41] of the time we see the opposite end
[1:17:42] where we're bringing employees up to minimum,
[1:17:44] we're making recommendations
[1:17:46] because they're being paid below market.
[1:17:48] But there's a handful of times
[1:17:49] and within studies where we see the opposite,
[1:17:52] where employees are being paid outside
[1:17:53] of the market for the position.
[1:17:55] And that shows, you know, if some,
[1:17:57] if a specific employee is being paid outside
[1:18:00] of the market range, then you know, we need to address that.
[1:18:03] And the way that we always recommend to our clients
[1:18:06] to address that is in a consistent manner, right?
[1:18:08] So you can't do for one person
[1:18:11] that you're not gonna do for the other.
[1:18:12] So however many you have outside of that market range,
[1:18:15] you're gonna have a consistent
[1:18:17] approach on how you address that.
[1:18:18] And what that looks like depends on the client
[1:18:20] and the needs of the client.
[1:18:22] So sometimes clients will say, we're gonna keep them there,
[1:18:24] but understand, you know, their salary's frozen until
[1:18:27] that market range catches up.
[1:18:29] And what that looks like, depending on
[1:18:31] how many years the employee's been there,
[1:18:33] how many people they have over the max, they might continue
[1:18:36] to give them the increases,
[1:18:37] but understand when that person leaves the position,
[1:18:39] they're gonna be brought in within the
[1:18:41] range where they should be.
[1:18:43] So again, every client is a little bit different
[1:18:45] on how that's approached.
[1:18:46] Our biggest thing when we work
[1:18:48] with our clients is making sure it's a consistent manner
[1:18:51] and how to handle that.
[1:18:53] Thank you so much. That was a wonderful answer.
[1:18:55] I have no other questions.
[1:18:57] Okay. I got everyone right Rachel, I want to, um, uh,
[1:19:02] tell you that I was um, I was struck by your comment on
[1:19:06] services being delivered
[1:19:08] because I think we elected officials all have
[1:19:10] to keep in mind that we are part of an organization
[1:19:14] that's goal is to provide services to the residents
[1:19:18] and that the people we serve.
[1:19:19] So, uh, I appreciated that comment.
[1:19:22] You made another comment there about looking at
[1:19:25] per capita income.
[1:19:26] And if you look at new Carrollton,
[1:19:28] and I'm not gonna quote numbers now,
[1:19:30] I don't have 'em memorized, but in general, the, uh,
[1:19:33] a large part of our staff makes substantially higher
[1:19:36] salaries than the people who live in the city.
[1:19:38] And some of the people here are, uh,
[1:19:40] are not too happy to see that.
[1:19:42] So that's just one situation that, uh, did you um,
[1:19:46] do you see any correlation in the work you've done between
[1:19:50] per capita, uh, income
[1:19:52] and what the city should be paying its employees?
[1:19:56] That's a great question.
[1:19:57] I'm not sure if I looked at specifically any correlation,
[1:20:00] but I will say as part of our process,
[1:20:02] we have conversations on where the city should be
[1:20:06] and what pay percentile makes sense
[1:20:08] based on the economic environment,
[1:20:11] the financial ability of the city.
[1:20:13] So we do have those conversations, you know,
[1:20:15] and looking at the 50th percentile
[1:20:17] or where we always start with that as a benchmark
[1:20:20] and then have those conversations.
[1:20:21] We have some clients
[1:20:22] and some communities that wanna pay above that, some
[1:20:25] that aren't even at the 50th.
[1:20:26] So we work with them on a structure to bring them there
[1:20:30] and show different.
[1:20:31] So I think that correlates to kind
[1:20:34] of the environment of the community.
[1:20:36] But I've never looked specifically
[1:20:37] as if it relates to per capita income.
[1:20:39] I'm gonna do that now.
[1:20:41] Well, you do it if we hire you here.
[1:20:44] Yes, I will. Um,
[1:20:47] and let's see, uh, we have, when we meet with the public
[1:20:51] and now that some of this information
[1:20:52] that Brianna pointed out hasn't been seen
[1:20:54] because it's been lumped
[1:20:55] and now we look to some of the details, so much
[1:20:58] of the public that comes to our meetings is,
[1:20:59] wow, please hire me.
[1:21:01] I had no idea we're paying these people that much
[1:21:03] to run this small town.
[1:21:04] So, um, the, um, see, made a note.
[1:21:09] I can't read my writing, but do you have a, do you have
[1:21:11] that low price tag but you're gonna have to do some travel.
[1:21:13] Do you expect a lot of travel
[1:21:15] and that's an addition to the 29,000?
[1:21:17] That's correct. That is an addition.
[1:21:19] We're happy to travel. I'm very happy to travel.
[1:21:22] We, um, can be there as many times as you would want.
[1:21:26] You know, pre COVID, we used to travel for everything.
[1:21:28] The employee interviews, the employee kickoff meeting,
[1:21:31] the council presentation after that.
[1:21:33] We've had a lot of success in doing it virtual
[1:21:35] and it does save, um, money of course,
[1:21:38] but I do understand it also helps to be in person.
[1:21:42] So we could have discussions during
[1:21:43] that initial kickoff meeting on what phases
[1:21:46] or what time makes sense for us to come in person
[1:21:49] and we're happy to do that.
[1:21:51] That would be additional
[1:21:52] and it would just be, uh, travel expenses
[1:21:55] that would be charged for that.
[1:21:57] And I could read my writing now.
[1:21:58] I just wanted to point out, we had a compensation study done
[1:22:01] nine years ago by a company called the Mercer Group.
[1:22:04] And one of the things they came away with,
[1:22:06] they adjusted the salaries.
[1:22:07] And as you mentioned, some went up, some were frozen,
[1:22:10] some were told you're not gonna get a
[1:22:11] and some people were happy and some people were not.
[1:22:13] But I remember that I was in the council way back then.
[1:22:16] I'm an ancient person around here and,
[1:22:18] and the, uh, I remember the guy from Mercer saying,
[1:22:20] we've looked at new Carrollton, you have the best, uh,
[1:22:24] benefits package we've seen anywhere in the country.
[1:22:27] So we have a wonderful benefits
[1:22:28] package here in addition to that.
[1:22:29] So keep that in mind if we choose you,
[1:22:31] if you look at our, at our study.
[1:22:32] But that, um, that's all I have.
[1:22:34] Anybody else before we let Rachel go?
[1:22:39] No, but thank you. Yeah, thank
[1:22:41] You. Thank you,
[1:22:42] thank you so much.
[1:22:43] And thanks to um, whoever organized it,
[1:22:46] the instructions were very clear.
[1:22:47] I appreciate all of that
[1:22:48] and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.
[1:22:51] Have a great evening.
[1:22:53] Thank you Rachel. Good evening. Thank
[1:22:55] You. Thanks.
[1:22:56] Okay. No, I, if I go back to the agenda,
[1:22:58] we've done the council announcements,
[1:23:00] but Brianna, I've been thinking a little bit
[1:23:02] about your comment and I agree.
[1:23:03] Um, I can put that on.
[1:23:05] I'm just gonna adjust the agenda accordingly
[1:23:07] because I, I envision, uh, people having a lot
[1:23:11] to say, I have a lot to process.
[1:23:12] I couldn't vote on this tonight.
[1:23:14] And I think people will have a lot
[1:23:15] of thoughts the next time we meet.
[1:23:16] And I wanted to set aside
[1:23:17] an hour where that's all we thought about.
[1:23:19] But I'm willing to put it on the agenda for the Wednesday
[1:23:22] and maybe, maybe we can do it it in 15 minutes,
[1:23:25] but if it turns into an hour,
[1:23:26] I'll just cut things off the agenda.
[1:23:27] 'cause I think this council may want
[1:23:28] to discuss this at great length.
[1:23:30] There've been some very good responses from six very good
[1:23:33] organizations and we need
[1:23:34] to process this carefully before we take a vote.
[1:23:36] Price is one thing, but this was a very
[1:23:38] quality firm too, in my view.
[1:23:39] So we have, uh, a lot to think about.
[1:23:41] Uh, with that said, Mr.
[1:23:43] Nelly, Nelly has her virtual handout.
[1:23:45] I'm sorry, Agnel, I didn't see it. Please
[1:23:47] Take the, um, this process is driven by
[1:23:52] concerns identified by the council.
[1:23:55] However, before making a vote, I would like to hear
[1:24:00] from the city manager
[1:24:02] and the mayor about which of the proposals
[1:24:06] they see fitting the needs of the city
[1:24:10] because they will be tasked
[1:24:12] with implementing the recommendations.
[1:24:15] And so, uh, would like to, um, allocate some time to hear,
[1:24:21] um, che speak to a recommended proposal
[1:24:26] Tonight? Or you wanna give
[1:24:27] her time to process too?
[1:24:28] No, when, when we get to the discussion,
[1:24:31] because she also needs time to process this.
[1:24:35] Absolutely. And I thought next Wednesday is soon enough
[1:24:37] and the following Wednesday is certainly soon enough.
[1:24:40] That gives us two full weeks to think about it.
[1:24:43] But I just wanna make sure that we
[1:24:45] as a group allow enough time for everyone
[1:24:47] to express their concerns
[1:24:48] and have time to have a very serious, uh, vote that comes up
[1:24:52] with the best candidate here.
[1:24:53] It's a very difficult choice that I see it right now
[1:24:56] and I have to do some more studying.
[1:24:57] Mm-hmm. So Cynthia,
[1:24:58] when you get back in town, I have your packet.
[1:25:00] We'll get it to you so you can read all the details
[1:25:02] and, and print a copy. With that said,
[1:25:05] I'm here.
[1:25:06] I have your packet, but I have it in my house.
[1:25:08] I'll give it to the printed copy in
[1:25:10] case you wanna look through these proposals. Yes,
[1:25:12] I'm gonna go, I was, I was gonna go
[1:25:13] to the office tomorrow, but if, if, if you have, well, okay.
[1:25:17] I made a mistake and grabbed
[1:25:18] papers and I took it to my house.
[1:25:19] I was gonna bring it back tonight
[1:25:20] and I, uh, I left it at my house.
[1:25:22] Okay. You could have mine. Mine's full of all my notes.
[1:25:25] So, um, with that said,
[1:25:28] Mr. Chair, yes,
[1:25:29] I think it would be good
[1:25:30] for our discussion at the future meeting for us to rank
[1:25:33] for ourselves, uh, you know, one through six
[1:25:36] how we felt about the performances that way.
[1:25:38] I think that will guide the discussion.
[1:25:40] 'cause if several of us rank the same ones very low
[1:25:43] or very high, I think that that could narrow the focus.
[1:25:46] So if, I don't know, I I'm just posing that out there
[1:25:48] as a way to, to, to kick off that discussion
[1:25:51] and make it expeditious.
[1:25:52] Well, you're posing it
[1:25:53] and I'll make that an assignment and I will do it.
[1:25:56] Okay. And if, if you can please rank them how you see it
[1:25:59] and then have a reason for that.
[1:26:01] But if each of us goes to the ranking gives our reasons.
[1:26:03] I'm not seeing a five minute discussion, but that's fine.
[1:26:06] I agree, Brianna. Alright, we can move to
[1:26:08] residents concerns if anyone wants to go to the podium.
[1:26:11] We have a large audience tonight on cell phone.
[1:26:15] We have some hands online I guess.
[1:26:16] And people have been following us.
[1:26:18] How many participants tonight? Maisha? Um,
[1:26:22] We have 14 people online.
[1:26:24] Anybody wanna make a comment about, uh, the selection
[1:26:27] of a consultant? The majority
[1:26:29] Of the people online work for the city of New Carrollton?
[1:26:31] Yeah, I was gonna say, but I think
[1:26:33] the majority of them are us.
[1:26:35] Okay. Well we, uh, we can get outta here a little bit
[1:26:38] earlier then the next meeting as it turns out,
[1:26:40] we'll be after the holiday.
[1:26:42] It'll be a Wednesday and I will not schedule
[1:26:45] it to meet next week.
[1:26:46] Then we'll just plan to fit this into that meeting.
[1:26:48] And, um, Caitlyn will tell me what else needs to be in
[1:26:51] that agenda next week.
[1:26:53] I, Nelly has her hand up again.
[1:26:54] When, what's more? All right,
[1:26:55] Nelly. Um,
[1:26:56] I'm sorry, I,
[1:26:59] I missed some things since the original idea
[1:27:02] of meeting next week was scrap
[1:27:05] and we're discussing it on Wednesday the 18th.
[1:27:09] When are we voting on the 18th? On the 18th?
[1:27:15] Yeah. I don't like, I don't like that idea.
[1:27:17] I wanted just to have a discussion and, and vote,
[1:27:20] but since uh, Brianna suggested we rank them all,
[1:27:23] maybe we'll be ready on the 18th.
[1:27:25] Um, the sooner we vote,
[1:27:26] the sooner we can choose somebody of course.
[1:27:28] And get them in here working. So let's plan on voting on the
[1:27:30] 18th unless anything interferes with that.
[1:27:32] Is that okay?
[1:27:35] Yes. Um, I'm interested in making a decision
[1:27:39] so the city can engage and sign a contract
[1:27:43] and set that kickoff meeting
[1:27:45] because I am, I cannot
[1:27:50] at the moment visualize how the timeline
[1:27:55] for the project will help us get
[1:27:59] to an approved budget before July 1st
[1:28:03] because I don't see enough time.
[1:28:06] Um, and how can we make informed decisions for the future?
[1:28:10] But that's not conversation for today.
[1:28:12] Um, so the important thing is
[1:28:14] to get it going and get it out the door.
[1:28:16] That's fine. I can take care of myself.
[1:28:19] Okay. Now in the packets, there are contacts at each
[1:28:23] of these places that if you feel you have a question
[1:28:25] that they can answer about that, feel free.
[1:28:27] We interacted with 'em tonight,
[1:28:28] but you can call them one-on-one too. Okay?
[1:28:29] Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
[1:28:31] Is that legal? Whatever you tell one contractor, you have
[1:28:35] to make sure that all of 'em have the same answer.
[1:28:38] That's not illegal. No, this is specific.
[1:28:40] If I have a specific question for Bolton that doesn't relate
[1:28:43] to MRC, if I have a question that he said something on, ask
[1:28:47] what he meant, I think then I think Brown is right.
[1:28:49] There's nothing illegal about contacting a vendor.
[1:28:54] Alright. That would be my advice
[1:28:56] and I plan to do the same if questions come up that I feel
[1:28:59] that I've missed something and I think you'd find
[1:29:01] that all six of the presenters would be eager to share
[1:29:03] with us any additional information on the project.
[1:29:05] Just prepared to take some time to listen to themselves.
[1:29:07] To listen.
[1:29:09] There is one hand up.
[1:29:10] Virtually, uh, Ms. Shirley Brown has her hand up.
[1:29:13] Okay, let's here. Ms. Shirley Brown.
[1:29:19] Honor,
[1:29:20] Take yourself off mute,
[1:29:26] Ms. Brown, if you're speaking we can't hear you.
[1:29:33] You have to hit the, the mic with the line
[1:29:35] Through it. I got
[1:29:36] it. Good. Madam Mayor
[1:29:39] and council members, how are you all doing today?
[1:29:43] We're well. Great.
[1:29:46] I really enjoyed the presentations of all six
[1:29:50] of the groups that you had between Monday and today.
[1:29:56] I just, just one thing, um, I didn't, I wasn't clear on
[1:30:01] when they were asked to come, if they're
[1:30:07] in comparing the different, um, cities around us
[1:30:12] in terms of compensations
[1:30:14] or if the likelihood of
[1:30:19] the compensations being equal
[1:30:22] or close to, to make um, their recommendations from.
[1:30:27] I did not hear anything mention of Montgomery County.
[1:30:31] Are they also looking at Montgomery County?
[1:30:35] And that's all I have to ask.
[1:30:38] You know, I think I'd let Brianna answer that one
[1:30:40] 'cause she's been following that closely.
[1:30:42] Brianna, I think they said they
[1:30:43] were gonna look all around, right?
[1:30:44] Yeah, I heard that too.
[1:30:45] And then also, so it's interesting about Montgomery County
[1:30:49] is that they have two gigantic municipalities
[1:30:52] and several teeny, teeny, teeny tiny municipalities.
[1:30:55] And so I think it would be hard
[1:30:56] to find a peer city in Montgomery County.
[1:31:00] Tacoma Park would probably be the closest in size,
[1:31:03] but their budget is six times our,
[1:31:06] so I would not say that they were up here.
[1:31:09] Um, but you have Rockville
[1:31:10] and Gaithersburg, which are gigantic conglomerate cities.
[1:31:14] And then you have teeny tiny towns like, like, uh,
[1:31:17] Only North Chevy Chase, which has like 12 people in it.
[1:31:22] It would be, but that would be up to the consultant.
[1:31:24] Alright. Yeah, the general don't answer question,
[1:31:26] but I thought Brianna might have something to say on that.
[1:31:28] Um, uh, I'm ready to, uh,
[1:31:30] to take a motion to adjourn for the evening. I'm sorry.
[1:31:33] I do wanna remind everyone,
[1:31:34] since we're not gonna have a council meeting on Tuesday,
[1:31:38] February 17th, please join us at the library for the, the,
[1:31:42] the tool, um, safe Streets Public Hearing from
[1:31:48] starting at six o'clock at the new Carrollton Library.
[1:31:51] And I didn't include that in my announcement.
[1:31:52] I should have the reason that News Tuesday is not good
[1:31:54] for us to replace the Monday, that's the holidays
[1:31:56] because the city has another function we're on
[1:31:58] that the council members should attend.
[1:32:00] So please make a note of that in your calendar
[1:32:02] and we'll meet again on Wednesday.
[1:32:03] Okay. Thank You Isha,
[1:32:05] thank you for helping me clarify that.
[1:32:06] If we have a motion to adjourn,
[1:32:08] I'll go home. Mr. Chair, move
[1:32:09] We adjourn.
[1:32:11] I second I third
[1:32:14] Cynthia in there. And
[1:32:15] all in favor? Aye.
[1:32:18] Aye. I think we got it.
[1:32:20] And I'll apologize in advance.
[1:32:21] They won't be able to attend that town hall
[1:32:23] because I got free Trevor Noah tickets, so.
[1:32:27] Oh. I'll be thinking of you
[1:32:28] as I'm laughing hysterically at the work. Trevor.
[1:32:30] No, he does an awesome show. Love you.
[1:32:35] I've seen him a couple times. He's awesome.
[1:32:37] Oh, that's awesome. Andres works at the
[1:32:38] Warner, so he got his free tickets
[1:32:41] Outstanding. Enjoy everybody.
[1:32:43] Have a good night. Stay safe,
[1:32:45] Stay warm.