Manager Search, Proclamations of Thanks | Mayor Keough Report 11-09-20

| 2 min | by Doug Marrin |

Dexter Mayor Shawn Keough reported to the City Council at its Nov. 9, 2020 meeting. Highlights from his written report include the following:

Happy November! I hope everyone is staying safe and practicing as much social distancing as possible. Please wear a mask if you must leave your home. Here is my report of recent activities and my calendar of planned Dexter activities looking ahead:

City Manager Search Activities

At our last City Council meeting, Council gave direction to accept the City Manager Position Description and begin advertising the position. There were also some very good questions from Council regarding my vision for the rest of the hiring process, and as to how we can respect candidate requests for confidentiality in an open public process. With the assistance of our current City Manager, we obtained some guidance from our City Human Resources Attorney and have prepared a memorandum with information that outlines future potential steps in our process. That information is included in the packet under New Business Item L-2. (editor’s note: see below).

Recent Activities

October 29, 2020 – Union Negotiation meeting with Fire fighter Union Local 4090 representatives – we met for approximately 7 hours and reviewed all sections of the existing collective bargaining agreement. Much progress was made and agreement was reached on many of the smaller changes to the proposed agreement. We are meeting on November 4, 2020 to continue the discussions.

Discussion of City Manager Hiring Process

Item L-2 on the agenda (referenced above) was a discussion of the City Manager Hiring Process. Mayor Keough reaffirmed his belief that the anonymity of the applicants could be kept until references were checked or public interview.

The Mayor also stated, “I'm recommending that we put together a City Manager hiring committee. I think we should talk about that as a new counsel and decide how to go about doing that.”

Proclamations

Mayor Keough also announced two proclamations. The first proclamation was to Councilmember Scott Bell whose service on the Council was ending. The proclamation read in part,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Dexter City Council does hereby proclaim its thanks and appreciation to Scott Bell for his years of service to the citizens of Dexter and his participation as Dexter City Council Member.

The second proclamation was also for a City Council member whose term had come to an end. Councilmember Jim Smith was recognized for his many years of service on the Council and other boards and commissions. The proclamation read in part,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Dexter City Council does hereby proclaim its thanks and appreciation to James Smith for his years of service to the citizens of Dexter.

Mayor Keough’s report and the proclamations can be found in their entirety in the meeting packet which is posted on the City’s website.