05-03-2022 Meeting Minutes BOC
May 3, 2022
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PERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MAY 3, 2022
MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT
Gordon Powell Heidi York, County Manager
C. Derrick Sims Brenda B. Reaves, Clerk to the Board
Kyle W. Puryear
Charlie Palmer
Patricia Gentry
The Board of Commissioners for the County of Person, North Carolina, met in
recessed session on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 8:15am in the commissioners’ boardroom in
the Person County Office Building.
Chairman Powell called the meeting to order.
In response to a Request for Proposals for Executive Search Services, the Board set
this meeting to interview qualified executive search firms and consultants to conduct an
executive recruitment campaign for the County Manager position. The selected firm shall
provide a comprehensive scope of recruitment and hiring services for a County Manager,
and is charged with conducting a national search. Services include:
Conducting a robust community engagement process with the County to develop a
profile/description of the desired qualifications, skills, experience, and leadership
necessary to be successful as the next Person County Manager;
Developing a search strategy to recruit the maximum number of candidates who
qualify based upon the profile;
Preparing job announcement, advertisement and marketing materials;
Screening candidates via interviews and assessments;
Assisting in all aspects of selection and hiring, including scheduling of interviews;
Conducting pre-employment screening to check candidate qualifications,
references, and background;
Making recommendations regarding candidates and the process; and assisting in all
aspects of selection and hiring.
The successful respondent will assist in establishing the process for the recruitment,
including a timeline for various actions during the recruitment process including
engagement with the community and department heads, a candidate profile, and screening.
County Manager, Heidi York introduced herself as the facilitator for the interview
process noting she was not evaluating the interviews. She noted the interview firms would
have an opportunity to introduce themselves and their firm through a presentation of their
proposal. The Board, following the presentation, will have an opportunity to ask structured
interview questions in a round robin format.
May 3, 2022
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Human Resources Director, Miranda Harrison provided the Board with each firm’s
proposal, a copy of the county’s RFP for reference, the list of structured interview
questions, and an evaluation form to score each firm. Scoring is based on the
Experience/Qualifications factors, Project Plan factors, Cost of Services factors and
Timeline.
The first interviewed firm was GovHR USA headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois.
GovHR Senior Vice President Lane Bailey with 32 years of local government leadership
and management with significant ties to North Carolina serving as City Manager, Assistant
County Manager, and County Manager experience, and GovHR Vice President, Rick
Ginex, with over 44 years of local government experience in Illinois participated via Zoom
to offer their public management consulting firm serving local government clients and
other public-sector entities on a national basis.
Mr. Bailey and Mr. Ginex stated GovHR had offices in 13 states and have
performed 1000’s of searches producing diverse candidates. GovHR has a 40% repeat
search rate and encouraged the Board to talk with former clients. GovHR representatives
said they would provide a collaborative path to success through complete process
coordinator with organization, engagement with key stakeholders, community
engagement, recruitment tools, social media and initial screening of candidate information,
all on an agreed timeline.
GovHR’s price proposal included $19,500 for recruitment activity fees, not to
exceed $1,500 in recruitment expenses and $2,500 projected advertising costs.
Chairman Powell announced a brief recess at 9:30am. The meeting reconvened at
9:41am
The second interviewed firm was S. Renee Narloch and Associates from
Tallahassee Florida with a satellite office in Texas with over 25 years of public sector
recruitment experience, via Zoom. Ms. Narloch noted her search experience in North
Carolina stating she would work closely with the Board to manage the process and work
toward recruiting the best fit for the next manager of Person County. Ms. Narloch said she
takes a hands-on, personalized approach with a strong recruitment strategy. Ms. Narloch
said she would like to sit down with each commissioner, meet with department directors
and with the community to seek input as she identifies a profile for candidates for a good
fit with career goals and culture that fit within Person County’s community.
The professional fee for conducting the county manager search is $22,500 with
expenses not to exceed $4,450.
Ms. York stated the third interview with the Mercer Group was cancelled due to
the Mercer Group withdrawing its proposal from consideration on May 2, 2022.
May 3, 2022
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Ms. York told the Board that reference checks could be completed this week should
the Board have consensus on one of the firms interviewed. She added the Board could
authorize the Chairman to sign a contract of award if deemed appropriate.
With discussion of the Board, it was evident the Board had unanimous consensus
for S. Renee Narloch & Associates.
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sims and carried 5-0 to authorize the
Chairman to sign a contract of award with S. Renee Narloch & Associates contingent upon
appropriate reference checks.
ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sims and carried 5-0 to adjourn the
meeting at 10:51am.
_____________________________ ______________________________
Brenda B. Reaves Gordon Powell
Clerk to the Board Chairman