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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP October 12, 1999 ~. . ~ Jh~~-'1~ :1 I ....... CITY of ANDOVER SPECIAL ANDOVER CITY COUNCIL MEETING - OCTOBER 12, 1999 MINUTES A Special Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Jack McKelvey on October 12,1999,7:15 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Councilmembers present: Julie Johnson, Mike Knight, Ken Orttel CounciImember absent: Don Jacobson Also present: City Administrator, Richard Fursman Resident Charlie Veiman INTERVIEW APPLICANTS/FINANCE DIRECTOR The Council interviewed the following three applicants: Fred Edstrom Jim Dickinson Linda Erickson The Council and Mr. Fursman asked the following questions of each applicant: background, reason for applying for the position, experience in establishing a budget, the role the Council should play in the budget process, experience with investments and nF funds, experience in the bond process, greatest challenge encountered and how it was handled, comfort level of giving presentations to the public and handling angry residents, phone management, management style, the importance of creativity in the position of Finance Director, availability to attend evening meetings, and other items related to accepting the position. Fred Edstrom - has worked with Anoka County for the last seven years; is the supervisor of administrative services for the division of Public Services and handles accounting functions for that division; graduated from St. Cloud and has taken a number of courses since then; is a member of Toastmasters and various other organizations; was told about the position and feels this is an opportunity and new challenge that he'd like to pursue; sets up the entire budget for the Highway Department starting with the managers talking about the various requests and trimming them down to fit within the guidelines; decisions are made through discussion and team work, then he and Jon Olson make the final decision on what is and is not affordable; puts the spreadsheet together for the total department budget; is more of an advisor though his opinion is strongly listened to; feels the Council should set the overall view of where the City should be going and provide general input into the budget but not get into the specifics line by line; is very comfortable making recommendations _.-.-- f) .J Special City Council Meeting Minutes - October 12, 1999 Page 2 (Interview Applicants/Finance Director, Continued) to the Council as to the direction of the budget; investment experience comes from personal investing but would do the necessary research on wise cash management issues for the City; understands how Tax Increment Financing works but felt very few people have expertise in that area because it is always changing; has experience in the bonding process noting they currently have a $6.4 million highway bond which he has prepared with the help of an outside consultant; has worked with park grants and maintenance and construction money for state aid roads; feels his greatest challenge has been to pull together different groups and departments to set up a system to obtain money from the federal government in a short time frame; is very comfortable making presentations as he is trying to constantly improve himself; would listen to what the residents are saying and to understand the real issue, then explain his side, always staying polite; lays out what he expects of others ahead of time and guides them to better themselves and to doing a better job if necessary; would reaffirm a person that he/she is very important and is needed to do a good job; tries to have an open-door policy and is willing to work with others on their problem as long as it is reasonable; home life is more important than the job and it is reasonable to help others with whatever is going on; sets up goals in writing as a manager, following the theory in the book, The One-Minute Manaser; finds managing is easier when others are reaffirmed when they do something right; tries to take calls for the most part except when working to meet a deadline; feels creativity is very important in the position to look "outside the box" for other possibilities and alternatives; would like to foster a friendship with people in other departments outside of just work; wants to get to know the Council which in turn helps him to do a better job; has had a lot of experience in managing information systems; set up an entire system from scratch for a car dealership; indicated his present employer can be contacted for a reference; would not be bothered by the drive to Andover from his home; understands the time demands and is not afraid of putting in the time it takes; would expect to give two weeks' notice before leaving his present position; would expect between $59,000 to $6 I ,000 as a beginning salary; would ask for vacation for the week of January 10- 15,2000, because of a commitment; and would like to be able to maintain his current status of accruing three weeks of vacation per year. Mr. Edstrom asked several questions of the Council on retirement, training and conferences as they are very important to him. Jim Dickinson - grew up in a small town in central Minnesota; graduated from St. Cloud; related several positions held prior to his present position with the county which included a position with the City of Cottage Grove for 2\1, months; is the accountant manager for finances at the Central Services Division of the county; prepares the annual budget for the county by putting together all of the other department budgets; provides payroll services for 1800 to 3500 employees of the county; acts as a consultant for all other departmental accountants; assists his boss with the preparation of the county's budget; provides data and does analysis for other departments; works with the budget team in reviewing and finalizing a budget to be presented; last year his department achieved the highest award in budgeting given by the National Government Finance Offices Association; is at the pinnacle in reporting in accounting and would like to move into a directorship role and feels he has the knowledge and contacts to be an asset to the City; would like to be a part of this growing, progressive cornmunity; hoped the Council would set the guidelines for the budget, then he would - - ..-- ------ - --- -.~--------~- -- . :[', ,> Special City Council Meeting Minutes - October 12, 1999 Page 3 (Interview Applicants/Finance Director, Continued) work with the other Department heads and bring back a budget for Council review; feels creativity is key for this position in weeding through the laws and in brain storming with others for new ideas and options; has had a lot of training on TIF but has not been exposed to it at the county; helped the Economic Development Authority set up a TIF for an industrial park while he was a member of that Authority; is comfortable he has enough knowledge about TIF to do a good job; feels confident in investing the City's funds and knows he can learn that area and find the right contacts; did not feel he would have a problem with public relations; likes to be prepared when giving presentations and to cover all the bases; would hear what an angry resident has to say, calm himlher down and will get the answers needed; noted his toughest work challenge was implementing a new payroll system for Human Resources which required hundreds of hours of overtime; would feel very comfortable managing information systems noting some of the experiences he has had in doing so; described his management style as an enabler, understanding the abilities of the employee and also encouraging them to grow; feels it is important to provide the tools to the employee through training; believes in praise when a job is done well and calling the employee if there is a problem; prefers to deal with discipline problems right away; would try to help others if a simple personal problem is interfering with their work; views the relationships at work to be a team effort and would like others to like him; would like to be able to work with the Council, bringing in financial implications when issues are at hand; would communicate with the Council by bringing items up through the ranks and would do presentations or provide summary reports if asked by the Administrator; works with the risk manager in Anoka County and is familiar with insurance and risk management; didn't know at this point if he would relocate if hired for this position, feeling that would be a family decision; stated if his position as Councilmember would ever become a conflict with this position, he would resign from the elected position as the job would be his priority; would give a minimum of two weeks' notice to Anoka County before leaving but would like to give three to four weeks' notice; thought a salary request would be in the low to mid-$60,000; would be able to meet the time requirements of the position; has a philosophy of returning every phone call as quickly as possible but would rather answer the phone personally most of the time; noted he was pulled over three times for DUIs, though the last one was dismissed; has not had a drink in five years and feels that is no longer a problem. Mr. Dickinson asked several questions about the position having to do with PERA, insurance, comp . time, etc. Linda Erickson - received her accounting degree at the University of Minnesota - Duluth, then started in public accounting running audits after the first year and performing a variety of jobs for the finn; became Director ofInternal Audit for Deluxe Corporation to create the audit department reporting directly to the CFO; was then moved to corporate accounting as assistant controller where she interfaced with public accountants; then headed up a new division to create the accounting software network until that division closed; took the severance package when that division closed to stay with her children the last three years; has stayed aware of new things in the last three years; is interested in the position because of its location and because she will be working for a cause that is a benefit to society as opposed to the driving force of increasing value to the shareholder in the corporate world; would like to work for her community; has had experience in budgeting in each - - . -. -.-- --- -.- - - ,~ --- - - . :[) Special City Council Meeting Minutes - October i2, i999 Page 4 (interview Applicants/Finance Director, Continued) position as manager in public accounting; worked with senior management in planning, then used financial skills to take that infonnation and create an overall budget that was reasonable; did regular reporting to managers; imagines the role of the Council in the budget would be to act like the senior management of a corporation to provide input on those things that are happening but to defer the nitty gritty to Staff; feels creativity is very important in this position to bring new ideas to the table; has a fresh way of looking at things; has never held a position where she was responsible for investing money but has reviewed what other people have done and understands the need to be fiscally responsible; knows how the bonding process works and can read and apply easily, which she did as an auditor; knows of Tax Increment Financing but has no real experience in it; is confident she can find the contacts and read the documents to do what she needs to do; related her last position as being the most challenging which required working many hours to start up the division; selecting software for operation and researching and accounting were the main goals; had to talk with a peer in that project who didn't have the drive or energy to make his people do what needed to be done and convince him of the importance of his responsibilities; classifies her management style as a teacher, always tutoring her employees and giving them the tools they need to be successful; feels an immediate response is needed in disciplinary issues; feels competent in being able to handle the varied responsibilities in this position; has had experience in making presentations to Board of Directors; would respond to angry people with tact in a quiet way with facts; feels the office should be a team environment in which all interact and support one another, all toward a common goal; likes to be out gathering infonnation from others during the working day; can begin work at any time; would expect a salary at the top of the range but feels vacation and comp time are very important. Council discussion - The Council reviewed the qualifications of the candidates, noting that all three were excellent applicants. It was difficult to reach a consensus. Finally there was generally agreement to offer the position to Fred Edstrom. Mr. Fursman was asked to discuss an offer with him and check references. If all is in agreement, the item would be placed on the next Council agenda for confinnation. Motion by OrtteI, Seconded by Johnson, to adjourn. Motion carried on a 4 Yes, I -Absent (Jacobson) vote. The meeting adjourned at 10:22 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ,~xuL Marcella A. Peach Recording Secretary -----"- ---- - ._._~ ~___4___