Victoria MN Newspaper-The Scoop at City Hall

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VICTORIA OFFERS TOP CITY JOB

TO LAURIE HOKKANEN OF CHANHASSEN

According to Jessica Beise, Executive Assistant for the City of Victoria, dated September 30th, 2014: "The City Council continued their special meeting from Saturday to Monday to discuss the candidates and make a selection. At the meeting they made a motion to offer to Laurie Hokkanen the position of City Manager. She was called last evening and she accepted, pending contract negotiations."

FROM 56 RESUMES TO 12 FLYOVERS

TO 5 INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS, DISCUSSIONS, DINNER

It began this past July when City Manager Don Uram tendered his resignation, effective July 18th. Interim City Manager Ed Shukle was already on board by July 15th. Even before that, on July 14th, city councilmembers had hired Richard Fursman and his executive search firm to cast a net for city manager candidates. On July 28th, council approved a profile of what they were looking for in a new city manager.

Two months later, on September 22nd,

council heard back in regard to the executive search. Reported Mr. Fursman at the city council meeting that evening, "There were 45 people who submitted resumes. I've spoken with 18 of them, one on one. I also had them do writing assignments. I feel every one on this list can do the job."

He submitted a list of 12 candidates. "I'd like to do a flyover of these candidates tonight," said Mr. Fursman, "and I will only be referring to them by numbers. Their information is private data. Once candidates have accepted interviews, their names can become public."

As Mr. Fursman referred to the twelve candidates by number, the following adjectives and descriptions were used, among others: steady, patient, pragmatic, master of technical data, calm, confident, brilliant, leads from behind the scenes, good communicator, great interpersonal quality, thoughtful, quiet, understands the job, creates harmony, thoughtful communicator, interesting, numbers oriented, creative, insightful, detail oriented, action oriented, a thinker, impatient to get things done.

He passed out index cards to the five city councilmembers and asked them to choose five of their top candidates, by number. The top five vote-getters were chosen, with a sixth candidate kept as a reserve in case someone dropped out.

Interviews were set up for the weekend of September 26th and 27th -- interviews not just with the city councilmembers, but also with other city committee, commission, and community people as possible. Mr. Fursman said a decision could be made that Saturday evening or the following Monday. A dinner was also held with the candidates. A special task for the candidates was to prepare an agenda item and speak at the podium as in front of a council meeting and audience.

Mr. Fursman advised city councilmembers, "After the interviews and reflection, if you don't feel comfortable you have no business making a decision."

***

On Friday evening, September 26th, there was a City Manager Candidate Reception held at City Hall from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Approximately 50 people attended. There was casual interaction and each candidate was also introduced by Richard Fursman, hired by the City of Victoria to do the Executive Search. The candidates spoke for about five minutes each, and then headed to the Victoria House to have dinner with the Victoria City Councilmembers.

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