By Sara Strong
The Luverne City Council started the first step to find a new city administrator.
The council approved a contract with Brimeyer Group, Executive Search Consultants, Hopkins, Minn., to conduct the search.
Brimeyer was one of three proposals the city received, but has a solid reputation in "headhunting" public sector workers. Also, the firm built time into its contract to communicate to the council more than the other groups did.
Brimeyer is owned by James Brimeyer, who will be doing the work for the city.
The contract is for a flat fee of $14,000 and includes all the steps involved in recruiting a city administrator.
That starts with meeting individually with the city council members and selected representatives from the community.
The Position Profile will follow and will give potential candidates a description of the community and the job.
The council had some discussion on whether it would be more cost effective for it to advertise for the position and hire on its own. A large advertising campaign would also be costly, and qualified candidates often like to search for jobs through businesses like Brimeyer Group.
Brimeyer estimates a new administrator will be able to start by September.
In the meanwhile, Assistant City Attorney Jeff Haubrich is filling in as interim city administrator. The city is being billed for his services as it would for attorney work.
Other costs beyond the base fee for the search are estimated to be $2,500. This estimate doesn’t include costs associated with the candidates’ expenses for the final interview.
The Brimeyer Group offers an 18-month guarantee to clients who use its complete process. Should the city determine it necessary to terminate the candidate due to failure to adequately perform the duties as specified in the Position Profile, it will refill the position for expenses only.
Other firms that submitted proposals to the city were Springsted Inc., Saint Paul, for a cost of $10,500 plus expenses, and Sathe Executive Search, Minneapolis, for a cost of $15,000 plus additional expenses.
