EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: September 20, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Patrick Heisinger, Interim City Manager
BY: Azalea Renfield, Assistant to the City Manager
SUBJECT: Update on the Chief of Police Recruitment
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Accept staff’s report on the status of the Chief of Police recruitment; and
2. Direct the Interim City Manager to publish a future informational report complete with each Councilmember’s appointee to serve on the five-member community panel for the recruitment of the Police Chief.
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 October 2, 2018, the City Council adopted Resolution 5034 (Attachment 1), defining the selection process for the Chief of Police.
On November 5, 2021, Albert Pardini announced his pending retirement as the Chief of Police.
On February 1, 2022, City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Koff & Associates to provide recruitment services for the positions of City Manager and Police Chief. While both positions are currently underway, the Police Chief recruitment requires a formal process that involves community and further direction from City Council.
To reiterate, the formal process for Police Chief 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.
This step has been completed, please see Attachment 2 for a copy of the 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.
The purpose of this staff report is to inform the City Council that the Interim City Manager is prepared to receive each Councilmember’s nominee who they would like to serve on the community interview panel.
Analysis
Staff recommends that each Councilmember forward their nominee via email to Azalea Renfield, Assistant to the City Manager, by Friday, September 30th.
For the purpose of transparency and assuming staff receives the five nominees by the September 30th, staff will publish an informational report on the October 18, 2022 City Council agenda to inform the community and other stakeholders on who each councilmember appointed.
Next Steps
It is expected that the recruiting period will conclude in mid-October and the interview process will commence in late-October/early November. The goal is to complete the process by the end of November.
Fiscal Impact
None
Public Notice
The public was provided notice of this agenda item by posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s website and at the San Mateo County Library located at 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The action being considered by the City Council is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a “project” pursuant to 15378(b)(4) because it is a fiscal activity which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant impact on the environment.
The action being considered does not constitute a “Project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378 (b)(5), in that it is a government administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
Attachments
A. Reso 5034 Selection Process for Future Chiefs of Police B. 2022 East Palo Alto Police Chief Recruitment Brochure