FAIRMONT– In a special meeting on Monday, the Fairmont City Council reviewed the resumes of three potential candidates to fill the open city administrator role. The city has been without an administrator since Cathy Reynolds, who previously held the role, left in May.

Charlene Stevens from GovHR USA, the firm the council has been using to help in its search, was present on Monday to go over the resumes with the council. The candidates were all referred to by number– one, two, three– as their names have not yet been revealed.

Stevens said that they had 16 people apply for the position and that she identified five potential candidates for interviews but that one candidate withdrew and another she later felt didn’t have the skillset to move forward, which left three candidates, which she interviewed prior to meeting with the council on Monday.

It was said that candidate one had done research on the community and liked the opportunities that Fairmont had to provide. Stevens said that the candidate has worked in communities of a similar size and has previously worked in the region so has an understanding of Minnesota government.

“I think the strengths of the candidate are strategic planning, economic development, community investment. They’re very comfortable with community engagement,” Stevens said, noting candidate one has a direct style of communication.

She shared that while the candidate has some negative press associated with it, it also has very good references.

Council Member Randy Lubenow asked whether the candidate is unemployed. Stevens said it has been unemployed for about a year, after leaving a job for a few short months, but had a long employment prior to that and that it had mutually parted ways with the city.

Council Member Jay Maynard shared some hesitancies about the short stint of employment the candidate recently had.

“I like what I see overall, but my concern is that he only held that last position for about three months. The last thing we need is to have someone come in and almost bail immediately,” Maynard said.

Stevens pointed out that the candidate does have some longer-term employment on its resume.

Council member Britney Kawecki said she liked that the candidate had a masters degree in public administration.

“It looks like they’re bringing some well-rounded experience,” Kawecki said.

Moving on to the second candidate, Stevens said that they are looking for some stability and have some family located in both the metro area and the Fargo area so they like the location of Fairmont.

“They like the quality of life in Fairmont… and have experience with a lot of similar initiatives like economic development, community amenities, strong communication skills,” Stevens said.

She said that the candidate brings an experienced and patient demeanor, but is not unwilling to tackle some challenging issues which may have led to a couple departures in other communities. However she noted that the candidate also has great references.

Kawecki asked how the candidate felt about some projects in the community, namely the proposed community center.

“They found them to be exciting. They had looked at them and liked the opportunities that are in the community,” Stevens said.

Next, the council discussed the third candidate. Stevens said she reached out to this one, rather than them initially applying.

“The community of Fairmont has some personal and sentimental appeal to this person. Their spouse and they are familiar with the community,” she said.

She added that the candidate has looked at Fairmont before but the timing had never been “right,” but that they indicated that now could be the right time.

“I really think this candidate also has a calm demeanor, level head and is experienced in communities that might be smaller, but similar in terms of regional center/rural communities,” Stevens said.

She noted that while the candidate may not be as innovative when it comes to community engagement, particularly using social media, they certainly understand the importance of it.

After hearing about each of the candidates, the council discussed the next steps. Stevens said the council was tasked with making a decision on whether it wants to move forward with one or all candidates.

“You’re not making a decision today… you’re making a decision on if you want to meet with the candidates and learn more about them,” Stevens said.

She further suggested any candidates the council is interested in moving forward with be given the opportunity to meet with department heads and/or do a community meet and greet, though she noted that the latter is not always successful.

“As a council you would obviously interview them as a whole council. Those interviews are public so the public can certainly come and observe, but they can’t participate,” Stevens said.

Ultimately the council agreed it would like to meet all three candidates. Stevens said the council should plan to spend 45 minutes to an hour with each candidate and that she could draft some questions for the council to review and ask.

Mayor Lee Baarts asked whether the city would be responsible for getting the candidates here and back. Stevens said that typically the council pays for the travel expenses. She noted that two could drive but one would require airfare and a hotel stay.

After some discussion, the council agreed it would like to hold a meet and greet so the candidates can meet with members of the public. It would also offer a hotel stay to the other two candidate as the meet and greet and interview could result in a long day.

“I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to see how the candidates interact with the public,” Maynard said of attending the meet and greet.

Council Member Wayne Hasek pointed out that the council has the final say on who is hired, which the rest of the council acknowledged.

“That’s a huge part of the job, too, dealing with the public,” said Lubenow.

When it comes to scheduling the interviews and meet and greet, Stevens said that while it depends on council’s availability, GovHR had tentatively looked at doing interviews with candidates on Sept. 5 and 6, which is after the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 4.

Baarts noted that Sept. 6 the council has a special budget meeting. City Clerk Patty Monsen added that there are some other city meetings scheduled for Sept. 5.

“”I think this should be our main (priority),” said Hasek.

Stevens suggested the council hold morning or late afternoon interviews with the candidates on those dates if it’s available.

“As council you need to be able to block a chunk of time that’s equivalent to a half day,” Stevens said.

The council again agreed that it would like to meet and interview the candidates on those dates. Stevens said she would reach out to the candidates to make sure those dates work and that she would be in touch with the Monsen on whether or not the candidates are available.