EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: February 1, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Jaime M. Fontes, City Manager
BY: Patrick Heisinger, Assistant City Manager
Greg Henry, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT: Selection of Recruitment Firms for the new Chief of Police and Additional Recruitments
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
1. Authorize the City Manager to execute agreements with both Koff & Associates and CPS HR Consulting, in forms approved by the City Attorney, to provide recruitment services on an as needed basis, as described in the staff report; and
2. Concur with the City Manager?s recommendation to assign the Police Chief recruitment to Koff & Associates.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 1: Enhance Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Priority No. 6: Create a Healthy and Safe Community
Background
On November 5, 2021 Albert Pardini announced his pending retirement as the East Palo Alto Chief of Police. Previously, on October 2, 2018, the East Palo Alto City Council adopted Resolution 5034 (attached), defining the selection process for the Chief of Police.
That process has the following steps:
1. The City Council shall select a recruitment firm to perform the recruitment for the position of Chief of Police. Once selected, the City Council, with Human Resources (HR) support shall work with the recruitment firm to develop a recruitment brochure.
2. HR staff and the recruitment firm shall conduct a review of all applications received and reduce the candidate pool to the top 12 candidates.
3. HR staff and the recruitment firm shall:
a. interview and screen the top 12 candidates
b. provide the City Council the top 12 applications
c. produce a confidential closed session report recommending the top six candidates for City Council consideration.
4. The City Council shall review the top 12 applications, consider HR and recruitment firm confidential closed session report including recommendations, and after deliberation in closed session will select the top six candidates.
5. HR staff shall schedule two interview panels of:
a. law enforcement executives selected by HR staff and recruitment firm b. five community members appointed at the sole discretion of each Council member
6. Each panel will provide to HR staff their interview and rating sheets including comments identifying their top three candidates. HR staff will provide all the material from the panels, in a confidential closed session report to the City Council.
7. The City Council shall meet in closed session to:
a. review the HR confidential closed session report and consider the recommendation of the two panels
b. interview the top six candidates
c. select the top three candidates for City Manager consideration.
8. The City Manager shall interview the top 3 candidates and make the final hiring decision.
On December 7, 2021 the City Council authorized the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) (attached) for a recruitment firm to support the City’s selection of a new Chief of Police.
The RFP that the City Council approved had the following language: “It is the intention of the City to follow process as codified by Resolution 5034 in the selection of the next Police Chief. Although the Police Chief recruitment is most pressing, the City may use the results of this RFP process to establish a relationship with a firm to help with future recruitment support.” Because the City is experiencing a high rate of employee turnover, staff is now recommending that the agreements described in this report be on-call contracts that the City can use to for future recruitments, including the future recruitment necessary for the City to identify a new City Attorney.
Analysis
The City received two qualified proposals (attached): Koff & Associates and CPS HR Consulting. A third firm also proposed but failed to meet the City’s requirements. Both qualified firms can provide the requested services.
Both Koff & Associates and CPS HR have the necessary skill sets to assist the City with recruitments. Both firms are well respected and have the capacity to complete recruitment assignments.
Additional Services Proposed Terms
Staff recommends the following terms for each agreement:
Firm Term Compensation Extensions
Koff & Associates 3-years $75,000 Two Six Month extensions at the discretion of the City Manager
CPS HR Consulting 3-years $75,000 Two Six Month extensions at the discretion of the City Manager
Staff Recommendation for the Police Chief Recruitment
Koff and Associates’ proposal was slightly lower with a project cost not to exceed of $24,000, to CPS HR Consulting’s $25,000. Further, as demonstrated in their proposal, Koff & Associates have managed many recruitments for Police Chief’s and for these reasons, the City Manager recommends the City award the Police Chief recruitment to Koff & Associates.
Fiscal Impact
The total expenditures being requested in this staff report ($150,000) would be covered by the City’s reserves.
Public Notice
N/A
Environmental
No environmental impacts.
Attachments
1. Resolution - Recruitment Selection & Chief of Police
2. Reso 5034 Selection Process for Future Chiefs of Police
3. Request for Proposals City of East Palo Alto - Police Chief Selection
4. CPS HR Police Chief Rec Proposal
5. Koff & Assoc Police Chief Rec Proposal