Oak Park Village President David Pope reported to the village board last week that the search to find the next village manager is about two weeks behind schedule, but trustees are optimistic that the next step will speed up the process.
The personnel committee, made up of Pope and trustees Ray Johnson and Colette Lueck, met Tuesday with Robert Slavin, president of the firm conducting the search, about recruitment materials used to connect Oak Park with quality candidates. The materials consist of a community profile along with a summary of what the board is seeking in its next village manager.
“Everyone is pleased. He really did a great job at capturing our community,” Lueck said. “Everybody was on board.”
Slavin Management Consultants will receive up to $21,490 for its work. This figure breaks down to $13,865 in professional fees, while the remaining $7,625 is available for possible expenses incurred during the process.
The original date trustees indicated wanting a village manager hired by was Sept. 1. Lueck thinks Slavin can select a candidate and make a job offer sometime in September.
“We’re still looking at a pretty tight timeline,” she said. “I think we will be able to make up time.”
Johnson said the board received a final draft of the community and candidate profile Monday, which trustees will be reviewing this week. He expects it to be publicly released by the end of the week.
“In my view it is comprehensive and gives a great view of the village,” he said. “It was a very strong document.”
Once materials are approved and disseminated, applicants will have until Aug. 13 to apply. Johnson said he hopes the finalists will be reviewed the last week of August. As of now, that’s the only set deadline in the process.
“We do still have challenges before us,” he said, including making sure Slavin’s candidates match the profile the trustees envisioned. “I do think we came up with a good balance of the good things in Oak Park and laid out some areas of focus.”
