Memorandum

City of Lawrence

TO:	Mayor and City Commission
FROM:	Thomas M. Markus, City Manager
DATE:	March 5, 2019
RE:	Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical Chief Search

Attached is a stream of emails regarding a conversation I had with the Interim County Administrator Sarah Plinsky on March 1 regarding the Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical (LDCFM) Chief Search. During this exchange, Sarah asked to be involved in the "evaluation process" for the next Chief.

As the commission knows, we have added a public process (candidate introductions, meet and greet, individual discussions, and a feed-back process) for key department head positions (Police Chief and the Parks and Recreation Director), and I intend to have that in play with the Fire Chief position. I offered to have Sarah participate in that process and share any comments about the candidates with me. Sarah was not pleased with my response and indicated that it was contrary to the collaborative approach used in the past like with the Sustainability Director position. Sarah also noted that former County Administrator, Craig Weinaug, sat in the final interviews when Mark Bradford was appointed Chief. I responded that I would give this more thought and then asked what the plan was for the appointment of a new County Administrator. Apparently, Bradford’s appointment was made by former City Manager Mike Wildgen. According to HR records, not only did the County Administrator participate but so did two City Commissioners and a County Commissioner. I would note that during the recent Police Chief search, a County Commissioner reached out to me to share her concerns with me about one of the candidates. I would also note that the County Commissioner stated she was speaking as a resident and not as a County Commissioner and that this individual lived outside the city limits of Lawrence. My point is that the public process did not inhibit a non-resident from expressing her views about a chief candidate. This is just one example of individuals who took the opportunity to participate in the public process of selecting a new Police Chief.

As to the Sustainability Director position, I would point out that the governing agreement (attached) between the two jurisdictions (City/County) specifically calls out a very different relationship, including: joint appointment by the City Manager/County Administrator, and while the Director is a County employee, the City Manager was given the ability to direct about forty percent (40%) of the workload of the Sustainability Director.

In the case of the LDCFM agreement and related city ordinances, the terms are very different. Section 1-303 Article 3 Chapter 1 of the City Code (attached) states the duties and functions of the Manager; Appointments and reads as follows, “The Manager shall be responsible for the administration of all the affairs of the City. He or she shall see that all laws and ordinances are enforced. He or she shall appoint and remove all heads of departments and all subordinate officers and employees of the City. All appointments shall be made upon merit and fitness alone.” Section 1-401 Article 4 Chapter 1 of the City Code (attached) reads, “The affairs of the City shall be administered by the officers and employees of such administrative divisions as may be established by the Manager” and Section 1-402 (attached) reads, “All officers and employees shall be appointed by the City Manager, except as otherwise provided by state law or other City ordinances.” Section 8-103 Article 1 Chapter 8 (attached) reads, “The Chief of the Fire and Medical Department shall be under the direction of the City Manager and shall have complete control of the Fire and Medical Department and all the firefighting equipment of the City.”

Further, the Cooperation Agreement Concerning the Provision of Emergency Medical Services in Douglas County dated 12-16-96 and amended in 1998 and 2000 (attached), state in Section 3, Paragraph A) states, “The department head shall be called the Director, and shall be responsible to, and supervised by, the City Manager.” Section 3, Paragraph B) states, “The Deputy Director (amended in 2000 to just Director) shall serve as a liaison official to Douglas County, and shall be directly available to the County Commissioners and the County Administrator to respond to such concerns or issues as may be raised, from time to time, concerning the operation of the Department, specifically including the provision of emergency medical services in areas outside the City of Lawrence.” Section 10 of the agreement states, “The City agrees to defend and hold harmless the County from any and all liabilities and claims for the provision of emergency medical services after the effective date of the merger pursuant to Section 3 of this agreement.”

Apparently, Sarah communicated with some members of the County Commission and Mayor Larsen was contacted by two County Commissioners expressing their concern with my position on the involvement of Sarah on the interview committee. Pursuant to a conversation with Mayor Larsen where she suggested the County Commission members would be discussing this issue at their board meeting on Wednesday, I said I would prepare a manager report on the topic. I don’t know if other commissioners were contacted, but because of our meeting schedule over the next few weeks, I felt it best to communicate sooner rather than later.

As I said, I would give this matter further review and I have. I think the process we have utilized for both the Police Chief and the Parks and Recreation Director has worked well. As I understand it, this process was not utilized when the previous Fire Chief was appointed. As indicated above, this process provides for a greater number of the public to meet and greet and hear from the finalist candidates and to provide me with some feedback. I prefer this approach and believe it is a more transparent way of allowing the public, including other agency representatives, an opportunity to see the finalists. Unlike the Sustainability Director, the Fire Chief is a direct report to the manager, and the authority to appoint, direct work, and remove, is solely within the purview of the manager. As such, I will be proceeding with the process as outlined, and the county may participate through our scheduled public process.