Town of Easton, Massachusetts

City of Lawrence, Kansas

Recruitment of the City Manager

April 25, 2006

April 25, 2006

Mr. Frank Reeb

Director of Administrative Services

City of Lawrence

P.O. Box 708

Lawrence, KS 66044

Dear Mr. Reeb and Members of the City Council:

Bennett Yarger Associates is pleased to provide this proposal detailing our proven approach and experience in recruiting municipal leadership.

Since 1981, we have specialized in recruiting leadership for our nation’s civic infrastructure: cities, counties, state, regional authorities, and nonprofit organizations. Our client list (see the Appendices) attests to our experience in assisting public service organizations large and small to find the talent they need.

Working with boards, councils, search committees, executives and human resource and purchasing directors in such settings, we are accustomed to the complex internal dynamics and candidate evaluation processes that routinely arise in recruitments of this nature, and to the high level of constituent, political, and media interest they sometimes engender.

Bennett Yarger Associates has built long‑term relationships with a number of large public entities. We currently hold a five year recruitment contract with the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a long-standing and active contract with the State of Michigan, a two year contract with the State of Washington, master contract relationships with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, and the City of Phoenix, Arizona. We would be proud to include the City of Lawrence to our long list of satisfied clients and friends.

From our previous recruiting and consulting work, we understand the importance of the City Manager’s position as he or she leads a municipal service organization responsive to the needs of its citizens. This is one of the most complicated jobs in local government and therefore requires special sensitivity to understanding the unique needs of Lawrence now and in the future.

Recent relevant work includes the following:

· Oak Park, IL: Village Manager (currently in progress)

· Concord, NH: City Manager

· Broward County (FL): Chief Financial Officer (currently in progress) and Deputy Director of Aviation

· East Providence, RI: City Manager (currently in progress)

· Port Authority of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh): Chief Administrative Officer

· Wellesley, MA: Town Administrator

· Newington, CT: Town Manager

The Project Manager for your recruitment would be the undersigned assisted by Mark Warter, Shelagh Smith, and Geri Connors. Our projects are distinguished by the exceptional level of personal attention we provide for our clients. Resumes of the Project Team are included in the proposal.

For the sake of full disclosure, I would like to say that I have an important personal reason for finding the very best city Manager for Lawrence: my sister lives in the community and holds significant position with the University.

We appreciate the opportunity to submit this proposal, and look forward to discussing our qualifications and strategies in person should you desire. It would be a privilege to work with Lawrence in its efforts to recruit a new City Manager.

Sincerely,

BENNETT YARGER ASSOCIATES

Richard T. Bennett

Richard T. Bennett

Principal

781/545-7616x12

rbennett@bennettyarger.com

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL:

Profile of the Firm

Established in 1981, Bennett Yarger Associates is a full-service, retained recruiter serving government and non profit organizations which comprise the civic infrastructure of the country. By recruiting experienced leadership into executive and administrative positions, we have consistently improved the capabilities of those hiring institutions. To fulfill that commitment, we are organized to seek out the best talent in every function of government. We are accustomed to high levels of political, public and media interests these recruitments often engender. Over the years, we have partnered with many cities and counties of similar demographics to Lawrence. Throughout those searches, effectively working with municipal officials, search committees, councils and complex candidate evaluation processes has become a routine part of our recruitment process.

BYA understands that executive search consultants can have a profound influence on the organizations they serve. We also understand that the importance of this hire may extend well beyond the organization to other city agencies and to the citizenry who depend on its services.

As a retained recruiter, we focus on professionalism, integrity, competence, objectivity, accuracy, avoidance of conflicts of interest, confidentiality, loyalty to the client and candidate, equal opportunity, and the public interest. We have a straightforward, structured search process and adapt it to your requirements. We then ask that you join us as partners in the implementation. BYA firmly believes that outcomes are more important than methodology and have included within our approach, what we believe to be, many of the outcomes our clients have come to expect.

The Project Team has been selected specifically for this project, based on the fit between their experiences and the Board’s needs.

Richard T. Bennett will provide Project Management and strategic leadership as well as serve as co-principal recruiter for this engagement. He brings to this project more than 30 years experience as both a municipal Manager and consultant to local government. As the firm’s Principal, he is responsible for all corporate administrative matters, in addition to serving as the lead recruiter on manyl engagements. He has actively recruited for a wide variety of policy, executive, administrative and technical professionals.

Mark W. Warter will serve as co-principal recruiter. Mark brings over 28 years of executive search experience after ten years in college and university administration. As Executive Vice President of Bennett Yarger, he has served as principal recruiter in a wide variety of searches and is considered one of the industry’s premier practitioners.

Shelagh Smith’s primary work will consist of cold research, prospect networking, and background and reference checking.

Geri Connors’ responsibilities include developing recruiting materials, identifying and recruiting qualified candidates, conducting detailed reference inquiries as well as scheduling and coordinating the interview process. Other responsibilities have included building a list of qualified candidates, verifying degrees and certifications, and handling background investigations.

< Guide the Board’s deliberations and evaluations of candidates, facilitating as requested the interview process and the negotiations surrounding the actual hire. We have a straightforward, structured search process. We adapt it to your requirements, and ask you to join us as partners in its implementation. At each stage, we provide written materials, explanations, and training as needed.

Task One: Understanding the Assignment

We begin the search with an intentionally simple question: "How would you know one year, three years, or five years after you hire someone that you had, in fact, hired exactly the right person?”

To answer that important question, we meet first with the leadership of the City, key employees, and sometimes the principal users of the client’s services. We want to understand the culture of the organization, the expectations of the key stakeholders that surround each role, and the strategic expectations that the organization and its participants have for the new hire. We interview as many stakeholders as possible, exploring with them the measures of future success in the role. At a more fundamental level, we ask all involved to clearly identify the exact goals expected of the new hire over time.

At the conclusion of these interviews, we summarize in a comprehensive Profile and Challenge Statement for your review and modification, our understanding of the organization’s needs, the strategic challenges of this particular role and, as a result, the personal and professional characteristics of the ideal candidate. This process often helps to build a consensus within an organization about its direction and what is expected of new people. It also helps to ensure that we and the Council have the same understanding when we begin to network for prospective candidates, and that we can effectively represent the role. Bennett Yarger Associates is well known for our ability to help clients truthfully define the challenges of the position in a manner that provides insight into the actual priorities, thus focusing the recruitment on those few individuals capable of doing the job and aiding us in persuading them to pursue the position.

Typical Outcomes

• Clarify the strategic needs within the position’s scope of responsibility.

• Develop a specific set of objectives for the position that can be used to: gauge whether candidates have comparable accomplishments; and, serve as a framework for subsequent performance evaluations of the person hired.

• Examine the implicit values and internal cultural norms of a workplace to: grasp the intangibles of personal fit and management style currently; and, frame the challenge of diversifying leadership in the organization.

• Prepare an extensive profile of the challenges and opportunities facing the hiring organization, and the criteria and expectations for a successful candidate. The process focuses the organization on developing a statement to which all stakeholders can subscribe. The product enables us to confidently present and effectively promote the position to our sources and to potential candidates.

Task Two: Networking and Screening of Prospective Candidates

In this phase of our work, we seek to answer the question: "What experience would prepare a candidate for the challenges that are inherent in this role?" We want to know the nature and magnitude of the task, and what measure of success they have achieved, to prepare them for their work in this position.

Once we have identified our target employers, we will systematically canvass them to find candidates who match your requirements. Our on-going work in all sectors enables us to search electronically, systematically, and reliably for talented people.

We do not rely on professional announcements alone to generate applicants. Utilizing our own automated data base, the Internet, resources from past recruitments, and arduous telephone networking, we are able to quickly develop pools of qualified candidates.

Many of the people we will identify are busy and successful in their work and are not looking for another assignment. To attract them, we will stress the unique challenges of this opportunity, working closely with you to develop this portion of our presentation. During the course of this networking phase of our work, we will want to speak with you regularly in order to keep you up-to-date on the progress and scope of the search. At the conclusion of our networking, we will have an extensive pool of prospective candidates.

Typical Outcomes:

• Develop a pool of candidates that is more than applicants, by aggressively seeking out the best people in the field whether or not they are looking for a new job, and attempting to persuade them.

• Seek out unconventional candidates, not just those who do similar work currently, by looking into related fields and to those who have met similar challenges in other sectors or venues.

• In doing both of the above, explore fully the distinct networks that more readily yield good candidates who are women and people of color. Over the last two years, 56% of those hired at the conclusion of our searches have been people of color and/or women.

• Examine internal candidates by the same standards and process by which external candidates are evaluated, avoiding both the unfair liabilities of the prophet in his/her own country, and the allure of the comfortable and familiar choice.

• Ensure thoroughness overall, leading to the confidence that, as we together narrow the pool, we are choosing from among the best talent available.

• Engage our client in what we are learning about the field, and in shaping our understanding of what is most important in candidates so that we stay on track.

Task Three: Interviewing, Recommendation of Finalists, and Reference Checking

We will then conduct preliminary interviews and reference checks, and submit written comments on the most promising candidates to the Council. When our clients hire us, they seek assurance that the hire we recommend will succeed. We take that challenge seriously; the capacity to provide that assurance is at the core of our practice.

Like every recruiter, we have a method. We learn a candidate's history to measure whether this person has encountered challenges that are analogous in scale to the work contained in this role. We track the individual’s career, ascertaining in each successive role why the person was hired for that particular job, what he or she discovered, who they answered to and interacted with, what ideas were essential to success, what conflicts erupted, and how the candidate measured results. When we walk precisely through a person's career, we begin to see patterns, both in what candidates avoid and what they embrace. We treat these as predictors about how the candidates will perform in the future.

Although our interviews are comprehensive, they are not the sole barometer. In order to test the hypotheses we develop from our interviews, we conduct preliminary reference checks and background verifications on the finalists. Our personal interviews and reference checks are extremely thorough. We speak with employers, professional peers, and subordinates, systematically probing the same questions with references that we explore with the candidate.

We will aid the appointing authority in preparation for semi-finalist interviews. We will review the challenges and criteria for the position as outlined originally. We will provide written and oral guidance on the interview process. Normally, we participate in the interviews as an observer and are available to answer questions and assist the client in their evaluations and selections. If it is useful, we can help structure the discussion, suggest questions, and offer a format for comparison that can aid in selecting finalists. We are always prepared to offer our opinions and recommendations, but we believe these choices are the client’s to make, and we only make recommendations when requested.

Typical Outcomes:

• Preserve our client’s good reputation by acknowledging all applications and nominations, keeping prospective candidates advised of their status, handling rejected candidates with consideration, informing important sources on the progress of the search, and by our attention to courtesy and confidentiality in our communications throughout.

• Develop a pool sufficient to yield six to ten candidates for personal interview and preliminary reference checking. From that group, we work closely with our client to narrow the pool to four to eight semi-finalists to be interviewed by the client.

• Reveal and present those candidates as a coherent whole, assessing issues of character and disposition as well as knowledge and skill in determining who is likely to be a suitable candidate, and gauging their balance of knowledge, experience, ability, drive, and organizational savvy in relation to the requirements of the job.

• Answer through experience, not conjecture, what we and our clients most want to know about the finalists, by questioning in depth people (both on and off a candidate’s list) who have experience with their work.

• Confirm the finalists come with no skeletons in the closet with no unpleasant revelations lurking.

Task Four: The Final Choice

A good search may be difficult to close. If there are several strong candidates whose strengths and weaknesses are known in detail, making the final choice is often hard. Alternatively, some candidates may require additional persuasion to leave jobs they already enjoy. We help our clients make a well-informed choice by profiling each candidate in the context of the job and its requirements.

Negotiating the conditions of employment is the sole responsibility of the Council. While we firmly believe the final choices are yours, we can help to establish the framework for the negotiations, clarify issues, and review the requirements of the employment relationship. We are also prepared to play a role in the actual negotiations between the candidate and the client, if asked.

At the end of the search, all applicants will be appropriately notified of the result.

Typical Outcomes:

• Enable both the organization and the final candidate to confidently make an informed decision.

• Overcome inertia, not only by persuading the chosen candidate of the compelling opportunities and challenges of the job, but by aiding the candidate and his or her family in dealing with the complications and stresses of the transition.

• Mediate as needed the client’s negotiation of a compensation package and terms of employment with the final candidate, by gleaning those factors that either party may legitimately want kept confidential, and by suggesting solutions and alternatives.

• Summarize for both our client and the person hired what we have learned in the course of the search about the organization’s work in the context of the field.

• Ensure that the person hired will fit, will succeed, and will stick.

• Warranty that if they don’t, we will find someone who will, for no additional professional fee.

TIMETABLE

While human beings and their decisions about career choices are not easily programmed, the following chart reflects a realistic assessment of the time required for completion of the various phases of a full search.

We will begin the recruitment within 10 days of receiving the signed Engagement Letter. At the very beginning of the engagement, a detailed recruitment strategy will be prepared and submitted for your approval. Based on past experience, we can generate a preliminary pool in the first six weeks, and a final pool with the next four. Because recruitment is ultimately a "people business," involving many personal schedules, the biggest pitfall usually involves delays caused by holidays, vacations, professional schedules, and the delays associated with availability.

PRICE PROPOSAL:

Price, Assurance and Guarantee

The retainer for this search is $17,500, plus direct expenses. As an accommodation to Lawrence, this shall be payable in four installments, $5,250 at the beginning of the search, $5,250 in thirty days, $5,250 when a pool of candidates is delivered, and the final $1,750 when a candidate is selected.

Direct expenses shall be capped at $5,500 and include actual expenses necessary to successfully complete the search, such as long distance telephone calls, facsimile transmissions, postage, copying, meals, airfare/mileage, lodging, and all other necessary and proper administrative costs. Unless there are special circumstances, we expect payment within 30 days of the statement date.

Reimbursement of candidate’s interviewing expenses and all advertising expenses will be your responsibility, and we shall arrange to have these expenses submitted directly to you.

In the event the Agreement becomes impossible or unnecessary for Bennett Yarger Associates to perform due to supervening circumstances beyond the control of either party, Bennett Yarger Associates shall be discharged from completing the search and the City shall owe nothing beyond the scope of services provided since the official start date of the contract, at the rate agreed to in the schedule above.

If, in the course of this search, we introduce you to a person whom you hire for another position within twelve months of the closing of this search, we will bill you 75% of the retained fee for this recruitment.

If you hire a candidate whom we have found and recommended, and if you choose to terminate the person for any reason excepting disability, or if the person leaves for any reason excepting death or disability, within twelve (12) months from the date of hire, we will reopen this search and replace the person for no additional professional fee. You will only be responsible for actual reimbursable expenses as outlined above. This guarantee is offered provided the client requests such a process within 30 days of the resignation.

Equal Opportunity Statement

(as amended and adopted June, 1997)

It shall be the policy of Bennett Yarger Associates, personally subscribed to and supported by each of the principals and associates, that we will assure equal opportunity based on ability and fitness alone for all employees of the firm or applicants considered for our client firms regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental impairment, age, marital or veteran’s status. It is our intent that such policy shall apply, but not be limited to; hiring, placement, job classification, transfer or promotion, demotion, recruitment, advertising or solicitation for employment; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; selection for training, career development, and layoff or termination.

This policy shall be disseminated to clients, employees and, on request, prospective applicants. Bennett Yarger Associates will endeavor to conduct its business activities only with those client companies/agencies that subscribe to underlying philosophies which protect and encourage the advancement of individual rights and dignity based on personal ability and qualifications. The intent of this policy will apply to internal operations, recruitment, and consulting activities conducted by Bennett Yarger Associates.

Each employee and subcontractor acting in connection with employment or consulting projects shall in good faith and with all diligence comply with this stated policy and applicable state and federal laws. Additionally, any form of harassment including overtures or behavior of a sexual nature by employees, vendors, or other persons associated with Bennett Yarger Associates is expressly prohibited.

Employees, candidates, and clients who feel they have been subject to discriminatory action or harassment in any manner should notify an appropriate manager within their organization and/or one of the principals of Bennett Yarger Associates. Richard T. Bennett is designated as the firm’s Equal Employment Opportunity Officer and is responsible for implementation, development/training, and investigation of any violations of this policy.

Richard T. Bennett, Principal

Appendix A

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CITY OF LAWRENCE PROJECT TEAM

Richard T. Bennett, President and founder of the firm, brings more than 30 years experience as both a public administrator and consultant to civic and nonprofit organizations. For the first half of his career, he was a municipal official in three states; Michigan, Ohio and Massachusetts. For almost 20 years, he has provided retained executive recruiting and management consulting services to state and local governments, school systems and nonprofit organizations. During this period, Mr. Bennett co‑owned The PAR Group of Chicago; Bennett, Isaacson Associates of Boston; and Boyer, Bennett & Shaw of Boston. He has actively recruited a wide variety of policy, executive, administrative and technical professionals. Mr. Bennett holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alma College and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Michigan. As the firm’s Principal, he is responsible for all administrative matters.

Mark W. Warter is ExecutiveVice President of Bennett Yarger Associates. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Warter was president and founder of Frontier Partners, Inc and Genesis Research Inc. Mr. Warter served ten years as Director of the Leverage Practice of Isaacson Miller, one of the nation’s largest search firms. Mr. Warter’s schooling was taken at Tabor Academy, Syracuse University, and Curry College. He did graduate work at C.W. Post Center of LIU and received a Masters in Administration from Boston College. Mr. Warter began his professional career in college administration during which he served as Director of Admissions at C.W. Post Center of Long Island University and later as a Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Bentley College in Waltham, MA. Mr. Warter lead the Staffing Department at Data General Corp. as it became a recognized force in computer technology. He was later recruited to The Sprague Electric Company, a $600 million, 11,000-employee, electronics company, to lead its Human Resource Department. Mr. Warter served for nine years as an EMT/Firefighter north of Boston; is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church and has authored two books of poetry.

Shelagh Smith; Principal Recruiter, came to Bennett Yarger from Genesis Research Inc. where she was managing partner. Prior to Genesis, Shelagh was a senior associate in the Leverage Practice of Isaacson Miller. She brings to her role a rich diversity of corporate and executive search experience. Starting in the Marketing Department at Boston Mutual Life, Shelagh later moved on to the highly respected Corporate Training and Development Department of The Boston Company. She entered the world of Search as a Recruiter and later a Practice Manager at Xavier Associates, where she specialized in diversity searches, and later as a Consultant with Raymond Karsan Associates

Shelagh has her BSBA from The University of Massachusetts. A recreational ornithologist, she raises rare and semi-rare parrots on the South Shore of Boston

Appendix C.

References

Following are a few relevant references for Bennett Yarger Associates. Other references are available upon request.

Village of Oak Park, IL

Contact: Frank Spataro, Director of Human Resources

123 West Madison

Oak Park, IL 60302

708/358-5652

Position: Village Manager (currently in progress)

Recruiter: Richard T. Bennett

District of Columbia & Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

Contact: Michael C. Rogers, Former Executive Director of MWCOG

HealthStar Systems

5565 Sterett Place, 5^th Floor

Columbia, MD 21044

410/772-6500

Position: Four

Recruiter: Richard T. Bennett

City of Greenville, SC

Contact: Mayor Knox White

206 South Main Street

Greenville, SC 29601

864‑467‑5700

Positions: City Manager (2), Environmental Services Administrator

Recruiter: Richard T. Bennett

City of Charlotte, NC

Contact: Gracie Myers

Human Relations Consultant/Contract Manager

Government Center

600 East 4^th

Charlotte, NC 28202

704-336-5701

Position: Director of Planning

Recruiter: Richard T. Bennett

Additional names of contacts will be provided on request. Our full list of clients served is attached