Mayor wants search firm fired

Hot Springs Mayor Ruth Carney said Wednesday she wants to fire Strategic Government Resources Inc., the firm hired to conduct a search for a new city manager.

“For the money we’re spending for that, I feel like we got a raw deal,” she said.

“We value our relationship with all the cities we work with, including Hot Springs,” Doug Thomas, regional

director for SGR, said Wednesday evening at a reception for the city manager candidates.

He said the company had been involved in the search for the previous city manager and has worked closely with the Hot Springs Board of Directors, the city attorney’s office and various city stakeholders.

“We have gone through a process that has been very deliberate. We started with 53 candidates, narrowed that down to 11 semifinalists with board involvement in making that selection. Two of those individuals either moved on, found positions elsewhere or withdrew, so that took it down to nine and ultimately four individuals were brought forward, including the interim city manager and three external candidates,” he said.

Thomas said all the background information SGR had and all information available was presented to the board as part of the selection process.

“I just finished talking to the mayor and I think we’re fine. I think we just talked through what the process was about, what information we have, when we have it and when they have it. This isn’t our panelists, they are ultimately the city directors’ panelists and there are some very qualified and very talented individuals in this pool. We look forward to them continuing the discussion as they go forward with the directors and we’ll see where we stand at the end of the day,” he said.

Carney said she sat up until the early morning hours on Friday after she received a flash drive of information regarding the three out-of-state candidates who were selected to potentially fill the position left vacant by the death of City Manager David Watkins in August.

The three out-of-state finalists are Anthony H. O’Rourke, of Washington; David Frasher, of Oregon; and Joseph A. Fivas, of North Carolina. Interim City Manager Bill Burrough, who has filled the position since Watkins’ death, is also a candidate for the position.

“I put the thumb drive in my computer and I couldn’t stop. I was reading all this and got so upset that this company would give us all that at such a late date on a weekend when the city offices were closed for the holiday, and we had no time to talk to anyone and we (the city board) hadn’t discussed any of the information we got,” she said.

The Hot Springs Board of Directors passed an ordinance last fall mandating that 24 hours’ notice be given to the public and media before a special called meeting is held. That rule precluded having a meeting on Friday and a meeting was called for 8 a.m. Saturday, which was still not in compliance with the rule.

The proposed meeting was not held as scheduled since only four board members were present, and five were required in order to set aside the 24-hour notice rule.

“I was thinking that we had all this time and couldn’t talk about it and I was frustrated with the company that would give us all their leftovers. I was thinking they had taken these people to every city they had gone to and they had that information way before they gave it to us.

“That’s why I want to fire the company. I felt like they were just giving us their leftovers, like they went to all these other cities and didn’t make it, and I felt like we were paying them thousands of dollars and they should have come up with better candidates than they did,” she said.

Carney said the search firm initially provided the city with a long list of candidates and recommended they pare it down, which they did based on very little information.

“We eliminated them and went down to the group we have without this other information. If the company had pushed these people in other cities, they knew all that, and that is why I’m upset with the search company. I think they had this information in plenty of time to give it to use before we settled in on three or four (candidates),” she said.

Carney said she had received an email from Yakima, Wash., urging the city to check out that candidate, and that information was sent to at least one of the city directors.

“I’m upset over the apathy of our board members who are like, ‘Just disregard everything you hear. Everyone is making up stories, and why should we give it any credibility?’ That upset me, too, because we have a responsibility to our city and to the employees of our city. They will have to work daily with whoever we choose and it’s not fair for us to look at it and we’ll take the best of the leftovers. I don’t think that is fair. I feel like it’s our responsibility to take heed and not say that everyone is lying and making up stories,” she said.

“We’re as dysfunctional as any board in the United States. We don’t get along and we have attitudes, but if we have caution signs, warning signs and red lights, I don’t think we should just run right through them like they don’t mean anything,” she said.

Carney said it’s not a question of whether people deserve a second chance and city officials should not be judgmental, but whether there is a candidate somewhere who is looking for a job not because they have been fired.

“Is there not someone who has done a really great job that would like to move to Hot Springs because it’s a neat place to live and raise a family? Sure there are other circumstances other than just being fired or leaving because everything is bad,” she said.

Carney said that, based on the information the city has received, she feels the city should not have brought the three candidates here.

“That makes it very awkward to have all that in the back of my mind — everything I’ve read — and then have to interview them. I’m thinking we should have stopped it, which is what I tried to do Saturday. Should have stopped it before we had to face a very awkward situation, which I feel is very awkward right now because of all that is in my head. Now, to interview them, I’m thinking I would like to save them and me the pain,” she said.

Carney said she feels the city could have done better by conducting its own search, and spent less time and effort by going through the city’s Human Resources department.

“You have to look at the whole picture of what we’re trying to do and actually my bottom line is I want what is best for our city, but I also want what is best for our employees who have to work every day with whoever we hire. It’s not just a thing for the board, but the total organization,” she said.