City council selects Affion to assist with hiring city manager

Hays Free Press
By Amira Van Leeuwen
November 22, 2022
 

KYLE — After listening to two presentations from executive search firms, Affion Public and Strategic Government Resources (SGR), Kyle City Council directed the interim city manager to engage in a contract negotiation with Affion.

Mayor Travis Mitchell made the motion, and council member Michael Tobias seconded it. Council member Ashlee Bradshaw was not in attendance, and the motion passed 4-1, with council member Yvonne Flores-Cale dissenting.

Affion Public’s goal is to build a profile by meeting with as many people as possible to understand what the city needs and what the community wants. Once the profile is built, Affion Public will bring it back to city council for approval and then start the recruitment process. Affion Public’s goal is to present six to eight candidates and to have the council work to narrow down those candidates.  

Scott Riley, CEO of Affion Public, stated that each candidate will undergo at least three interviews.

“We’re going to understand their backgrounds, what’s motivating them to get there, what some of their ideas are and see where that match comes up,” Riley said. 

If a candidate makes it through two rounds of interviews, they will receive a written assignment from Affion Public, which includes a one-page bio about themselves and, in their own words, why they are interested in the Kyle city manager position.

Tobias wondered what the screening process was.

Riley said that screening tools would be behavioral-based interview questions that they ask candidates based on economic development tools like development, redevelopment, TERS, etc. 

The time they review a position profile brochure with city council is estimated to be about 12 weeks. 

“We believe that the most important element of initiating an executive recruitment is understanding the profile of the person that you are looking for and really understanding the community and the community’s priorities,” said Jennifer Fadden, SGR’s chief operating officer.  

Lynn Barboza, SGR’s project manager and executive recruiter, would be on-site, spending time in Kyle to get to know city staff, council, community groups, etc. From there, SGR would advertise the position.

Unlike Affion, SGR brings forth every person that applies for the city manager position.

“We want you to be aware of who that candidate pool is,” Fadden said. “However, we present those candidates to you in a triaged fashion.”

Council member Daniela Parsley asked Affion if a city had ever tried claiming a guarantee for not getting a qualified or expected candidate.

“Our guarantee is for if we place a candidate that they will fulfill their role for two years. If not, then we’d go back out and do the search. We’ve done that maybe two or three times since 2009,” Riley said.  

Mayor Travis Mitchell thanked the applicants.

“I think you are both great companies [and we]appreciate the feedback that we have received,” Mitchell said.