Name: Youth Services Steering Committee 04-28-2022
Duration: 40 min 26 s
Description: We'll throw some kind of wrench in the day and create some kind of conflict resolution crisis situation to see what their thought processes is and working through that and resolving that.

[0:04] All right.

[0:09] Well, thank you very much, everybody. Good to see everybody in person. It's long overdue. Appreciate it. Welcome to the

[0:14] And overview services steering committee. I believe this is our fifth meeting. Lots to get done today, even though I think the last couple of sessions we have, we're probably the

[0:32] Did you have any that were sent in to us?

[0:35] We have nothing, then, and we have nobody here.

[0:38] Okay.

[0:39] Do we know this?

[0:40] With that being said, I know that Andy and Jess

[0:44] are not here today.

[0:46] I know Jess put a lot of work into finalizing

[0:49] or our final approval on the job description that I believe

[0:53] is teed up ready to go out on the web services

[0:58] or the website once we launch it.

[1:00] And before we do that, I think we should talk about how we don't launch it and a little bit more about it and you know Andrew

[1:07] If you're ready to take the show. That's very great. Thank you, sir

[1:11] so

[1:12] my thanks to Jess and

[1:15] Take medical call in my office who put together the profile which it's just a visual it includes all the content that was discussed by this group

[1:25] We didn't post a job as we

[1:27] We had indicated after our last meeting with the link to the profile where scheduled

[1:33] to have it be open through May 20th.

[1:37] So just about a month.

[1:39] When we last felt one of the things we had talked about was using this meeting as the launch

[1:43] of the webpage and really began the communication plan relative to public input in the transition

[1:50] from the steering committee to the selection committee, which we'll talk about in the next

[1:53] agenda item.

[1:54] But we put together the web page just like we said we would like to walk through it here.

[2:03] So it's not a lie, that's why it looks like it's in the edit version here.

[2:08] So the NW Services Dairy Committee is charge of developing a profile for the next director

[2:12] of NW Services.

[2:13] A link to the profile can be found below.

[2:15] You can see position profile if you click on that, the profile that you look up will come

[2:21] up.

[2:21] The profile be used to solicit interest in the position and includes the necessary attributes

[2:25] and qualities that the town is seeking in the next director.

[2:28] The profile will also serve as a framework to the evaluation of interested candidates.

[2:33] The steering committee is interested in public feedback about how the selection committee should

[2:37] prioritize in a way that different skills, attributes and qualities of the next director.

[2:40] Please take a moment to fill out the committee's survey, which can be found here.

[2:45] And can there be a click on that?

[2:50] The survey I was put together by Andrea Edmont in response to no problem based on the feedback.

[3:03] So I just like us to take a look at it.

[3:20] This is just a brief forward about what the intent is.

[3:23] And the first section is, please help the hiring committee by ranking the way

[3:29] to these skills. I'm looking at the candidate's experience, administrative skills

[3:33] communication, program oversight on leadership, administrative skills, budget finance, payroll,

[3:38] program development and design, management skills, supervise. That's one section.

[3:43] Now if we go to the next section, it says, please help the hiring committee by

[3:48] ranking the way to these qualities when meeting the candidates and hearing about

[3:52] their experience, inclusion, passion, leadership, integrity, energy.

[3:57] And then as the committee had asked, there's a blank section where you can submit whatever

[4:04] you want.

[4:04] That may not be prompted by the survey.

[4:07] Any thoughts on this as a tool?

[4:10] So one thing we've learned about public surveys, it has to be pretty brief and it has to be

[4:16] to the point if you want a big response.

[4:20] So I think that accomplishes it, but I want to make sure that everyone in this room is comfortable with it before we go any further, and then I'll talk about what further looks like.

[4:29] I just have a couple of questions.

[4:31] On this survey, what would we need to provide feedback before it goes live?

[4:35] Because I know that when I had originally seen it, I had a couple of questions about things that we might want to do, depending on how people feel about it.

[4:41] like asking respondents who they are in terms of,

[4:44] are you an AIS member?

[4:47] Are you a student, teacher, parent?

[4:50] I don't know if that would be helpful to us

[4:51] in determining what kind of feedback we're getting.

[4:54] So what do you think the category is parent?

[4:56] Participant?

[4:57] Pardon?

[4:58] Former participant maybe?

[5:00] Yeah.

[5:02] I mean, I would have to think about it

[5:05] when I had some additional discussion about it.

[5:07] But yeah, parent, participants, perhaps not just been students, I don't know if we want

[5:16] to know their teachers or people that work within the public school system.

[5:20] We could say, you know, and over public school employee reps.

[5:27] Now, so I'm just curious, because I'm sure if we will probably want a minute to kind of

[5:31] go through it and think about it.

[5:33] So when do we need to provide by feedback?

[5:35] So, consider we get it out the better, but if you wanted to take the night and let us

[5:40] know by Monday, the end of the day, if the committee is comfortable, we can then make

[5:44] the changes, send it around, and plan to go live by the committee next week.

[5:48] I think that would be great.

[5:49] I can even get it back soon, that I don't know how everyone else feels.

[5:51] But I definitely need a moment to digest it overnight.

[5:53] I know I've had it for a while, but I haven't provided feedback.

[5:56] Liz, what do you hope to accomplish by breaking this out?

[6:00] like how would we use that information if if I'm a parent and a former AYS member you know I'm

[6:08] clicking multiple I'm just trying to envision how we're going to use the data. It's a great question

[6:13] I don't know that there's really a use for it per se but it might just inform the hiring

[6:16] committee or who member gets the information about what part of the town community they're hearing

[6:21] from so for example if there's not a lot of AYS membership that responds that would kind of tell you

[6:27] that you're missing that part of the insights from that group.

[6:33] So I don't know that it could really be used per se,

[6:35] but I think it just might tell you a little bit about what

[6:37] you're in the true year learning program.

[6:38] So just quickly on that end, the last time

[6:40] we spoke about this, I believe that there was a link that

[6:43] was going to be set down that we could send to other people.

[6:46] Was that correct?

[6:47] Right.

[6:47] So there's an email set up next AYF.

[6:52] We have another website.

[6:54] Sorry, we've done it.

[6:55] But we set it up in IT last week.

[7:00] It's next director, AYS at and over at ma.us.

[7:04] You can send out a link around and people can submit their feedback in any format they

[7:07] like.

[7:08] So you can cut and paste it, put it on an email, blast it to whoever you want.

[7:11] So when we actually blast this out, they'll be a link to this webpage so people will see

[7:16] the survey, people will see the email address, that they can email any kind of thoughts in any

[7:20] format they want.

[7:21] Their story, their history, why they're interested in the next steps, they'll be able to get the profile and they'll get a link to every single one of our virtual meetings and then minutes from all of our meetings as well.

[7:36] So really, a member who's just getting caught up to speed can see every single minute in which this group is met.

[7:42] But we are able to reach out to our communities and get that out there.

[7:47] So you can bring in a diverse group of people.

[7:49] It's not if they just go to this site.

[7:51] No, I mean, you can send just the email address out.

[7:54] You can send a link to just the survey out.

[7:56] Or you can send a link to the entire website out.

[7:58] Whatever you're interested in doing.

[7:59] Tim.

[8:00] It's my hand.

[8:01] Push a button.

[8:02] I'm not sure.

[8:05] We may have already agreed to this.

[8:08] And so if we have part of the redundancy, I'm assuming that every middle school and high

[8:17] school student has an handover email and a republic school email, am I correct in that?

[8:26] Yes.

[8:27] And I'm looking at you because you'll look closest to me if you actually live the day.

[8:32] Yes.

[8:32] That's because it's possible for us to ask, and it may be your purview to, I don't know,

[8:40] I'm just, so I was going to say it's impossible to ask the superintendent that we could do that

[8:46] and send it to all middle school and high school kids as well as middle school and high school

[8:51] teachers to take the survey to gain a larger number. As well as everybody else. It's a good idea.

[8:59] We can certainly ask her. I know she sends out communications, so maybe you can be proud of that.

[9:04] Yeah, thanks.

[9:07] Very good.

[9:14] Does that have to go through a committee dollar vote?

[9:19] No, she says do that. It's entirely up to the superintendent.

[9:22] And I know the school committee has policies on what types of things can be communicated

[9:25] and without growing their policies about my ad. I imagine this falls with them.

[9:29] You think there's a good chance it'll go through?

[9:34] I think it's a good vehicle to pump your numbers up, you know, to get a wider array.

[9:41] And it's your audience.

[9:43] By no means should it only be the only audience I'm not advocating for that, but you

[9:48] know, you can get middle school and high school faculty as well, administration.

[9:53] And then you push it out through the community as well, you know, through either Facebook,

[9:59] Facebook,

[10:02] pardon me, Facebook, oh, I guess Facebook pages, I was going to say Facebook

[10:07] things. Not knowing Facebook, well, but Facebook pages, et cetera, you know, for

[10:13] camera and so on. Citizens as well.

[10:17] We will push through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, alert, and you'd be surprised how

[10:23] it travels. I mean, I'm going to share the zillion times and we typically get, especially when

[10:28] in the surveys concise, the really solid response.

[10:32] And it moved in 400, you know, on our high end,

[10:34] 1600 fish.

[10:37] And you know what's amazing, what I didn't think

[10:39] of mentioning, I would assume we'd also be asking

[10:43] those folks who are currently attending those students

[10:48] and adults at the youth center right now.

[10:52] We want to be asking them to participate in the survey

[10:55] or have something at the front desk saying, you know,

[10:57] Hey, he's a servant, please help us out.

[11:00] Well, I would ask on that, though, I'm a trainer

[11:01] involved, right, with the NW services.

[11:04] I mean, with that, yeah, I actually

[11:05] haven't been for the past couple of years.

[11:07] He's not congratulated, but where are you going to ask?

[11:09] Well, I was going to say, like, if we have jets over the air

[11:12] and if you could have them send it up to that community,

[11:15] I mean, they're attached to it, right?

[11:17] They have the information to send it up.

[11:19] And that's a great feedback.

[11:21] But that's a great feedback.

[11:23] Yes,

[11:25] we're in.

[11:25] I just, we talked, I think, about the last meeting about kind of a feedback loop.

[11:32] And I thought the website would be a good resource to have, like, the, the, I frequently asked questions.

[11:38] And you may not have any questions that have been asked yet.

[11:41] But if we're asking for, for feedback, that might be an opportunity to, to convey that.

[11:47] You know, if somebody has a comment in, in the survey, you might collect those and then, and then add to this FAQ on the website.

[11:55] That's what we thought we'd build out as we go.

[11:57] Okay. Yeah, as we start to hear some of the commonly asked questions, we'll put them up there.

[12:02] One of the things that we added is status of the hiring process because yes, that's going to be the most commonly asked question.

[12:08] So right now, it would be the time it's currently accepting resumes and letters of interest to the position.

[12:12] The application period will be open through May 20, 2022.

[12:15] After that, we'll say the screening committee has been assembled and has been done working through.

[12:20] So when it goes through phase one of interview, we'll update it when it goes through assessment

[12:24] center phase.

[12:25] We'll update it.

[12:27] And then as we get closer to the public announcement, our public engagement process, we'll continue

[12:31] to announce all that here.

[12:34] Okay.

[12:35] The whole idea is to try to create an environment where people are checking back, keep going back,

[12:38] and checking back.

[12:40] You know, if we do this right, that's what people will be doing.

[12:44] Good question.

[12:49] That's wonderful. What is the job for you?

[12:52] So we're in here from what your ideas are on identifying who you are as a participant

[12:57] and then we should be good to go on this.

[13:00] So we should give all our feedback by tomorrow?

[13:05] Tomorrow is here quick, if we want to say by the end of day Monday.

[13:09] Okay. Is that a control of everyone? That'd be great.

[13:11] Yes. So so the information gets in by end of day Monday and we'll push our turn around

[13:19] is Tuesday morning. Tuesday by the day. Yeah. Okay. Can this be a vehicle to link to the

[13:27] the application process to like if an applicant was reading this with they'd be able to

[13:34] Oh, yeah. Link can go to apply like interested in the position. Crash remark. Yeah. I think we can do that.

[13:41] And would they be able to attach their resume to it as well?

[13:45] Can we just take them to where they can do that?

[13:48] Great idea.

[13:50] Could I also link to the AOS page?

[13:55] Yes.

[13:55] Is there a link?

[13:59] Well, actually I did see it.

[14:01] I think I saw it on Indeed.

[14:05] It's true there.

[14:07] Is there a link on Indeed or other platforms

[14:10] phones that you are casting the net onto, is there a link there to take you to this?

[14:20] Not just the application, but the information about this.

[14:26] Not yet, but we can put this link within the NeoGov Posting, right?

[14:31] All those links in the Universe go back to you.

[14:33] Thanks.

[14:34] But you would have that link on the Internet.

[14:37] It keeps it simple, yeah.

[14:39] That link.

[14:40] This is a random question, but is there any reason or any need to ask in the survey?

[14:44] Are you a town resident?

[14:45] Are you an end-to-end resident?

[14:47] Does that...

[14:48] I mean, it's unlikely someone outside town would answer the survey, right?

[14:52] You'd be surprised.

[14:53] I mean, we almost always ask it.

[14:55] Oh, we could.

[14:55] Okay.

[14:57] because there are people who may have brought it.

[15:00] We're not here, we're not here, but we're passionate, but anyway, yes. So we would want to know who's kind of resident, who isn't? Yeah, I mean, it's not entirely to be verbally honest, useful information, kind of an interesting fact, but I don't think it's going to be a point of information that necessarily drives a decision. But it's interesting to hear. There are. Any other questions on the web page in the communication plan? So as of right now, we've decided and agreed that we will wait till Monday night with feedback.

[15:29] Feedback to me by end of day Monday and our goal is to have this blasted by Tuesday

[15:38] the day, Tuesday, midday.

[15:41] What about any having to kind of compile all of our feedback and make some sense of

[15:45] that?

[15:45] Is that going to be something she can do that quickly?

[15:47] So that's a good point.

[15:49] If everybody comes back with the extensive feedback, we may not be able to do it by midday

[15:52] Tuesday.

[15:54] So depending on the extent of everybody's feedback, our goal is to the day.

[15:57] I want the committee to know if Andy needs more.

[16:03] Okay, any other questions?

[16:07] All right, so we'll table this till Monday, end of day,

[16:12] and then we'll hopefully get the feedback.

[16:14] I mean, you're going to let us know, right?

[16:16] Monday night if it's a go, or if we're going to hold off a little bit

[16:19] because there was just such a discrepancy.

[16:21] You would hear from me by end of night on Monday.

[16:24] Okay, perfect.

[16:25] All right, so moving to the next item here, the transition

[16:28] in the selection committee.

[16:30] I know that we had had, in prior meetings,

[16:32] asked people if they were interested

[16:34] in being part of the selection committee.

[16:37] I know that a couple of people showed interest

[16:41] being on that committee,

[16:42] which I think goes to reviewing,

[16:46] screening and interviewing process

[16:49] on that selection committee.

[16:51] I know Trent, you're gonna be on that committee, correct?

[16:55] I believe so.

[16:57] As I do, Liz and you had shown interest in being on that committee as well and Laura you have shown interest in being in that committee.

[17:08] I will also be in that committee to work with the process as well.

[17:13] So with Liz, Laura and Trent, I believe that will be our add value to the committee from this group, from this committee.

[17:21] Club Plus Albert, who has two HACs, he's staff, DEI, director, but also on the committee.

[17:26] So, perfect.

[17:27] So, Albert is on the committee as well.

[17:30] Brian, no interest, huh?

[17:31] No, I don't like it.

[17:32] I don't like it.

[17:32] It's probably.

[17:33] I don't like it.

[17:35] It's probably cool.

[17:37] Okay.

[17:37] So, any questions on that, is there any dialogue, or any, just one point I'd like to make is

[17:43] first and foremost, thank you for volunteering to take this next step in a volunteer time a

[17:49] little bit longer.

[17:50] not everybody can be at every step of the process because that would be a

[17:53] public meeting. So one of the things that I'll be reaching out to try to figure out

[17:56] is who participates in screening, who may be in the panel, who may be in the

[18:01] assessment center, portion. Everybody's going to get a piece who's interested in

[18:06] serving. We'll just based on availability and how it all fits together. This

[18:10] becomes a pretty complex process when we build up these evaluation process.

[18:15] So question on that one, is there somebody that was going to be the foundation that will

[18:22] be with everybody through the process, which is just that person?

[18:25] Oh, there will be a few people, just will be there every step of the way.

[18:29] Gemma will be there every step of the way, a representative from my office will be there

[18:33] every step of the way, and then we'll build it out with other departments and involvement

[18:38] from this group as we march down the road here.

[18:41] So if it's helpful, I can just talk a little bit about, again, is there a recap what the process will look like?

[18:47] Yes.

[18:49] Once this closes on the 20th, the first thing we'll do is evaluate what the response was.

[18:54] I mean, you know, if we have two candidates, the next steps may be different than if we have 40 candidates.

[19:00] But providing we have a strong turnout, it's my hope that we will put together a screening panel,

[19:04] which will facilitate by Jess Porter.

[19:07] on the screening panel will be one rep from AMIS,

[19:10] the air and committee, one rep from my office,

[19:12] one rep from community services,

[19:14] one rep from the DEI commission,

[19:16] or Albert and Andrea Edmont.

[19:17] So Andrea is actually an active role,

[19:19] because she knows the field,

[19:21] she knows professional,

[19:23] sorry, not professionals,

[19:24] but the types of professionals

[19:26] and the people with the backgrounds

[19:27] that will be necessary to succeed in this position.

[19:30] And that panel will determine who's going to be invited

[19:34] in for an interview.

[19:35] And one thing that I'll say about our interview process here is when in doubt, I always interview more rather than less.

[19:42] So, if we have a few people who are on the cost by always throwing them in and we actually have sometimes shorter in-person interviews

[19:48] to the first round rather than it has them much through an hour or when in 15 minutes you know it's not going to be somebody you're going to move forward.

[19:56] I rather have twice as many people who have been 30 minutes at peace and sometimes you can find your candidate that way.

[20:02] So at that point, there will be three members, including the youth representative, which

[20:07] I'm just going to start following track, I'm trying to announce that panel, plus participation

[20:14] from somebody from community services, which of course is Jim's department, somebody from

[20:18] the library, which most likely will be our director, Barbara McNamara, and a representative

[20:22] from the end of a public safety, which could be one of our chiefs, but very possibly our

[20:28] community support, Lieutenant and the Police Department, Lieutenant Frank, it's Patrick.

[20:33] Myself or somebody from my office, and again that will be facilitated by Jess Porter

[20:39] and Andrea will continue to be an advisory capacity.

[20:46] Then, assessment center, so as I mentioned, this is kind of a hallmark of our high level

[20:50] hiring process here in the Andover.

[20:52] We'll invite people in for a half a day or three quarters of a day and we'll ask them to

[20:57] participate in a number of different exercises, split the room up so there will be two panels

[21:01] that are interviewing for different types of things, some of the soft skills, versus

[21:06] not some bold skills necessary to be a successful director, we'll ask them to do a public presentation

[21:12] sometimes we'll say if they're interviewing on Tuesday on Thursday, we'll email them on Monday

[21:18] and say change of plans, plan to present the select board on something happening in the

[21:23] community and then they'll have to prepare a presentation and actually give it to like a mock select board

[21:28] while they're here. When they come in they'll get an inbox full of tasks that they have to complete

[21:33] within their free time without the day. It shows us time management. It shows skills that will be necessary

[21:39] that you don't always see on the surface of somebody sitting before you just in the basic panel of you.

[21:46] We may ask them to present their entry plan, you're taking over for somebody who had been here for a very long time, what would be a plan to build trust within the community.

[22:01] We'll throw some kind of wrench in the day and create some kind of conflict resolution crisis situation to see what their thought processes is and working through that and resolving that.

[22:11] And then from that process, I usually bring the two pales together, so someone will be

[22:15] asked if someone will be in here, and you'll evaluate who were your top three and who were

[22:20] your top three.

[22:20] Sometimes they match.

[22:22] Often they don't.

[22:23] And when they don't, you have to kind of figure out what the next steps are.

[22:26] And can you find a common ground amongst the finalists?

[22:29] At that point, what I imagine happening is us coming together to think about what the next steps

[22:37] of the public facing portion as so if there's one finalist in it maybe one

[22:42] finalist we'll talk about what this committee's role is as ambassadors to

[22:47] the community and introducing and having a component with parents a component

[22:51] with youth and what that would look like if there's two finalists we'll do the

[22:54] same thing and then that will be the session last step before finalize to the

[23:01] appointment.

[23:03] That's not reasonable. Do you feel if if

[23:09] for instance one finalist was to be brought forward?

[23:15] Is that not a quick town

[23:20] in a precarious position if that candidate decided to change his or her

[23:26] mind? It could. I mean it's something that has to be considered when you know it takes if we go

[23:33] so many different directions. We may have one we only want one and if that one changes their mind

[23:38] we would never go with number two, we'd go back out.

[23:40] That makes that decision a little bit easier.

[23:43] If there are two people who neck and neck

[23:44] and you want to bring both forward,

[23:46] then you have sort of a fallback plan.

[23:48] But I think it's ultimately, it's a risk

[23:50] and it's something that's going to have to be considered

[23:52] at the time, but it's something that we'll have to think about.

[23:56] Tim, I think it's a good question.

[23:59] I do think the state of the world today

[24:02] with limited talent out there, they may not take the position

[24:07] for things that we're not thinking about, like a counteroffer, right?

[24:11] I mean, I think that's a normal progression

[24:12] in the hiring process, and it happens every day.

[24:15] So I think it could happen.

[24:17] It could happen for that reason.

[24:18] But there are other reasons as well.

[24:20] But yeah, I mean, that too.

[24:22] The process in an interesting situation for us at that point.

[24:25] It's never a good family.

[24:27] No, but it happens every day.

[24:28] That's what it does.

[24:31] Any other questions on how many people have missed?

[24:34] I have a couple questions.

[24:35] I just wanted to, I know Jess is not here, the HR director, but that we had spoken about

[24:43] trying to have blind resumes when we first review them, so if we can perhaps do that.

[24:49] I know that's part of the hiring committee, but I'm hoping that will be kept in mind.

[24:51] The other thing I was just curious about how the makeup of these committees is determined,

[24:57] and I fully believe that this is going to be a very smooth operation because we're all

[25:02] like mine and people, however, there are fewer community members on these panels than government

[25:09] members, and I just want to know if there's some kind of inter-discussion about, like,

[25:16] I like this member, I like this candidate, rather, you know, is it by vote, and how does

[25:24] that break down if, you know, the community members are in disagreement with the HR director?

[25:30] Before you make a second, that's right. So is there a legality? A legal aspect to this, too? Right?

[25:37] Like, you know, it is for the town, right? So don't, the town has to be the one that makes that decision, correct?

[25:45] We can add our value to it, but somebody from the town has a sign off of them. Right, so by Charter on the Appointment Authority

[25:50] and my capacity as town manager, so ultimately I try to put together a mix of people that represent the largest groups of interest as I possibly can.

[26:00] And sometimes those interests are other departments who play a very important role in the successful

[26:07] operation of youth services or the library, for example.

[26:11] And Larry and Brian talk about this.

[26:12] There's a lot of back and forth.

[26:13] Kids go one place, not the other, or the vice versa, and there's a relationship there.

[26:19] There's a relationship between community support, division of our police department and the youth

[26:23] and the youth center.

[26:25] They see a lot of the same things.

[26:27] same thing with community services and the community services and some of our

[26:31] intergenerational programming recreation which is a lot of overlap with

[26:34] these services in terms of the kids always put in many cases so we try to get as

[26:40] many people in a room that have an interest internally as well as externally what

[26:46] I will say is having probably higher than part of this process over a hundred

[26:50] times I've never seen anything come down to about because literally never seen

[26:56] a vote. We may say a tally, rank your top three or rank your top five, but there's usually

[27:02] pretty good consensus, but what I can say to you is that the police chief or the community

[27:09] service director or myself will not have a greater weight of a vote than any member of

[27:13] the public on that process. And you will see that. You'll be behind the scenes as part

[27:18] of this and you'll see it as clear as day. And Trent was our community member for the

[27:24] the permanent staff, and I can talk about that,

[27:27] but we waved his opinion as heavily as anybody's

[27:30] in that process.

[27:32] Yeah, happy to say a little bit about that.

[27:36] So I was involved with Andrew just

[27:39] said with the permanent staff, and it was actually,

[27:41] it was a very eye-opening experience,

[27:44] so I think you'll appreciate it.

[27:48] But I definitely, I felt like my opinion had a lot of value,

[27:53] and I even think some of the things that I was,

[27:56] because we had two different meetings.

[27:59] First, we interviewed the internal candidates

[28:01] and from there, we had to determine

[28:05] whether or not we wanted to see external applications

[28:07] and I remember saying something in that meeting

[28:10] after we had seen all of the internal ones

[28:13] and I think that it carried a lot of weight

[28:16] because I had noticed that there was a certain

[28:18] an expertise skill area that wasn't really coming up in the internal candidates that

[28:24] we had seen, and I pointed that out, and then from there, we ended up deciding to move

[28:30] forward with extra long vacations. And I don't think it was entirely because I pointed

[28:35] that out, but I do think that it carried some weight, and I think that I didn't really

[28:39] think that I was doing it.

[28:39] And I certainly, I don't want to think that it's not going to go smoothly. I really do believe

[28:45] that everyone in this room is very committed to the same goal.

[28:49] I just, you know, with all this talk about community involvement and transparency and all

[28:53] that stuff, I just want to make sure that, you know, it's the case that everyone feels

[28:58] like ownership is shared.

[29:00] And by everyone, I mean, everyone outside of this room.

[29:03] And I think, you know, and I know I said this in email, this process will have more participation

[29:08] from the public than with how managing the hiring process, the police chiefs hiring process,

[29:12] is the fire chief's hiring process,

[29:14] superintendent of school's hiring process,

[29:16] those are some of the higher level processes.

[29:19] So we've really opened the door as much as we can

[29:23] and this one and I think it's gonna really

[29:25] play an important role in the outcome.

[29:27] I'm excited for this process

[29:28] because I do think it's balanced

[29:30] and I think we all have the best interest.

[29:32] Ultimately, I am my capacity,

[29:34] you're gonna be held accountable based on this hire.

[29:36] So I have the best interest in getting it right too.

[29:39] And by getting it right means getting input

[29:42] and buy in from the coordinating and cooperating departments and members of the public which is why we're

[29:47] putting so much time and effort into this. I agree with you, right? You just don't want to go through

[29:51] the motions. That sounds good to me. I totally agree and I just want it to be the perception of the

[29:58] the entire community that this...

[30:00] The process has been very involved from all sides. We know it is. The success of that candidate,

[30:06] whoever is hired, that person's success is going to ride on how transparent and how people feel about this process,

[30:15] whether it's legitimate or otherwise. And it's an important point that you're making

[30:22] is that winning the trust of the town is really important here.

[30:31] I guess another way is that we need consensus on this, both within this room and within

[30:35] the community. So if there isn't consensus, then we have a problem. But I guess, as you said,

[30:40] that's unlikely or would be back to the drawing board or would have you if there was a candidate.

[30:45] I wouldn't have put forward a candidate that is election committee was invited on.

[30:48] But I mean, Trent just talks about that, right?

[30:51] You know, you recognize something.

[30:53] It was in a process and you would recognize it

[30:56] and that started a different conversation

[30:58] and then it went in a different direction, right?

[31:00] I mean, it's good to hear it.

[31:01] We propped it on the process

[31:02] so we extended the process another month

[31:04] and came up with a different mix of people as a result.

[31:07] And Trent, we just won a member of the public in that instance.

[31:12] So, you know, I envisioned this scenario

[31:16] where confirming, I'm asking the select board to confirm the appointment and have everyone in this room,

[31:23] and the audience excited about the candidate, because the candidate more than anybody is going to need the support

[31:29] of not just me and Jam about all of you, because there's going to be people who are excited about his or her

[31:36] candidacy and starting, and there's going to be people who are going to want to challenge him or her.

[31:40] And they're going to need the support of everybody in this room, so that's why it's so important to have everybody feel comfortable, and that's what I'm 100% committed to making happen.

[31:50] Can you tell us a little bit about how you're advertising this job, is that something Jess does, and how we're distributing the listing to attract?

[31:57] Sure, Jess has posted it far and wide, I don't exactly know what all the channels are, but they're all the municipal ones, Andy was helping with some of the youth networks,

[32:08] and all the usuals, indeed, to wait in all those places.

[32:12] I don't know why, because I leave that to her.

[32:15] We should know, though, I think when it comes up,

[32:18] it comes up in the public schools.

[32:20] So I think we should, I think it was talking to the Democrats,

[32:22] it's, we're going to draw a particular candidate,

[32:25] because that's how it's been posted,

[32:26] because it does come up as an in the public schools position.

[32:31] I double check that with just a couple of days ago,

[32:34] and it's not actually the case.

[32:35] So I'm not sure if you look at it indeed comes up as that one indeed maybe that's an indeed

[32:40] It doesn't need scrapes

[32:43] Yeah, I'm just saying yeah maybe others too, so I mean it's not probably all of them but some of them do definitely indeed as much as large

[32:49] We share a back end system with the school department. So more candidates come in so sometimes that happens

[32:55] But that's a good point. I don't know

[32:57] It's not a change. I mean just don't really get candy. It's that

[33:04] It's a good point though, but you should be able to go off someone to take care of that.

[33:07] That's a good point.

[33:09] And if you're tied to that system, that's why it's coming up.

[33:11] Right.

[33:12] The other scenario that could manifest, and I hope it's not the case, is that we make it to May 20th.

[33:18] We have a set of candidates.

[33:20] They come in.

[33:21] We interview them and we go back out.

[33:24] And the decision may be to go back out in September.

[33:27] But that's a good decision that's going to be made, you know, in conjunction with everybody in the room.

[33:32] Based on the feedback of the people who are participating in the selection process, because we want to get it right.

[33:37] And Jim will tell you, we've got plenty of times, a second time, because we haven't felt good about the people in our view.

[33:45] We want to get it right.

[33:49] What, how do you address, if the candidate is somebody on the hiring panel notes?

[33:57] Is there a refusal process?

[33:59] Yes.

[34:00] So that's freestandered.

[34:01] When we start up, if this, well, I'll ask, or just will ask, is there anybody who knows

[34:06] anybody in here?

[34:07] Whether or not it's a conflict.

[34:08] Sometimes it may not be.

[34:09] I mean, I work with that person and I get to go have a talk to him, so that's, you know,

[34:15] good question.

[34:15] That's a good question.

[34:17] Well, any of the permanent staff that have already been in

[34:19] higher, be part of this process, or have a chance to

[34:22] voice their thoughts?

[34:23] They will have a chance.

[34:24] They won't be on the committee, but they'll have an

[34:26] opportunity to interact and provide feedback.

[34:33] Any other questions?

[34:36] This is an exciting point.

[34:37] We should be excited about where we're at.

[34:39] I'm super excited.

[34:40] Yeah, yeah.

[34:40] We're very excited.

[34:41] A big time commitment.

[34:42] I mean, a lot of work is going to go into this.

[34:44] But hopefully, we have a candidate in place.

[34:48] July 1, that was our initial goal.

[34:51] And we're lining up to potentially be able to do that.

[34:55] All right.

[34:56] Any other questions on this topic?

[34:58] All right.

[34:59] So just a recap real quick.

[35:00] So with the web page, we're going to wait till Monday.

[35:05] Later in the evening.

[35:07] And if there's no major discrepancies,

[35:09] it should go live on Tuesday.

[35:11] With it going live, we agreed that there's going to be links

[35:14] that get us to the survey for everybody to look at

[35:17] on the job profile, as well as the site for and or correct, okay?

[35:24] We'll be able to cut and paste and send that out, okay, perfect.

[35:29] We've talked about the transition, the selection committee.

[35:33] We've Liz, Laura, Albert, Trent and myself, and you know, Jim was going to be part of it as well as Andy and Jess.

[35:41] So I guess the next question that I have would be the next steps for this committee.

[35:47] It does have a review for dates and meetings, will this group be meeting again for some feedback on what's transpired?

[35:57] Would it be interesting to meet maybe in three weeks, right after town meeting, to just go over what some of the survey data is, get an update of where we are in the process.

[36:05] It can be a brief check in meeting, but if that would be a value to the committee that's something you can certainly do.

[36:09] How does the committee feel about that?

[36:11] Tim, you all right with that?

[36:12] You want to meet again?

[36:14] No.

[36:15] OK.

[36:16] It's not for an answer.

[36:17] No, I think it's great.

[36:18] It's great, isn't it?

[36:19] Yes.

[36:21] No, I...

[36:21] I...

[36:22] There is a specific function certainly, but I mean...

[36:26] To meet to meet.

[36:28] No.

[36:30] Certainly, but I mean...

[36:31] To meet to meet.

[36:33] No.

[36:34] But I mean...

[36:36] to help in a way of, you know, to be happy to.

[36:39] Well, you'll definitely meet again,

[36:40] because once we talk about what the public outreach

[36:43] and the introduction to the community is going to be,

[36:45] I don't know, look for the feedback.

[36:47] That's not the selection committee's work.

[36:48] That's the steering committee's work.

[36:49] Okay.

[36:50] So, do we have like a time period that you have in mind to that?

[36:54] It's just a couple of months.

[36:55] We want to, we want to shelf that for a little bit.

[36:57] I'll continue to provide updates by email.

[36:59] Okay.

[36:59] And once we're getting towards the end of the process,

[37:02] we'll pull out a bit of it again.

[37:04] Is that some reasonable?

[37:05] Question for you. If the application closes on May 20th, then the screening panel goes right into the fact or how to soon today start reviewing.

[37:13] So to prepare the screening, if we're going to do a blind resume, then I have to talk to Jess about that. That will probably take her a week, ten days to do the actual redactions.

[37:22] It's a, it's a, because the way our system works, I mean, she addresses former employee, like it's an enormous undertaking.

[37:32] So that would probably push us back a week or so, so I would say, beginning to do.

[37:40] Jim, I have a question for you.

[37:41] Have you forecasted out what type of response we may receive?

[37:46] I'm just thinking of the current climate and hiring.

[37:48] There's not a lot of talent out there.

[37:50] Are you going to get, you think we're going to get a ton of people that are just like,

[37:53] this is a curious position?

[37:55] Or where are we?

[37:56] It's a niche, right?

[37:57] This is a niche role, right?

[37:59] It is, and of course folks out there are considering the job don't know what you know, so they might not be considering it a niche job.

[38:07] Lots of folks that are in like recreation field, folks that are in the education field, folks that are in the boys and girls club type fields.

[38:18] You're probably some folks from public health, I would guess.

[38:22] I checked before I came here today, there's 17 applications already, and it's just got posted, so there's going to be a lot of interest.

[38:31] So, my next question on that would be, what is the follow-up process going to be for the city's 17 resumes came in?

[38:40] Two people fit the bill.

[38:42] What about the other 15, or is there an email system?

[38:44] There's no thanks, how are we going to go about that?

[38:46] But they all are going to have to thank them for their interest and let them know that

[38:50] we will be done if I'm finalists.

[38:51] They have to perfect.

[38:53] Okay.

[38:53] Great.

[38:55] All right.

[38:55] Thanks for answering those.

[38:57] So we will shelf the specific date for the next meeting until probably after a good chunk

[39:03] of the process has gone through.

[39:04] Correct.

[39:06] Okay.

[39:08] Committee are comfortable with that.

[39:10] Any questions on it?

[39:12] Okay.

[39:13] So we've recapped, we're coming to the end of the meeting, we'll throw it out there and

[39:18] eat a few questions.

[39:20] People won't answer anything that you want to talk about before we motion to adjourn.

[39:25] Approved the minutes.

[39:26] Yeah, the minutes.

[39:27] They were tied there.

[39:28] They were just going to say, they were tied there.

[39:30] I'd like to move the approval of the minutes.

[39:31] You need to motion to approve the minutes.

[39:33] Right, so.

[39:35] And this isn't all the meetings, right?

[39:36] There's less meetings that's not out here.

[39:38] So the person does the minutes to just catch you now.

[39:40] I see. The next meeting will approve this one and the previous. So we have the first two meeting minutes. Correct.

[39:48] Yes. Okay. So everybody's received a copy of them.

[39:51] Yes.

[39:52] Everybody reviewed them.

[39:53] Yes. Okay. So motion to accept the first two meeting minutes.

[39:58] I'll second that.

[39:59] Thank you very much. All in favor of the approval of the minutes.

[40:04] I think I'm with you Tim.

[40:08] But unfortunately, this is how we do it, right?

[40:12] All leagues and committees.

[40:14] All right, so with that being said, then I will throw out a motion to adjourn the meeting.

[40:18] Second.

[40:19] Thank you, Trent.

[40:20] It's all a favor.

[40:21] All right.

[40:22] Thank you so much, everybody.

[40:23] Thank you so much.

[40:24] Great to see everybody in person.

[40:25] Yeah, definitely.

[40:26] Thank you very much.

Youth Services Steering Committee 04-28-2022

Agenda

Transcript