The city of Little Rock recently entered into a $45,000 contract with a Texas-based consulting firm to recruit candidates to fill positions at the level of department director.
Mackenzie Eason & Associates of Fort Worth was selected over four other entities that submitted responses after a request for qualifications.
The other responses to the request for qualifications came from Baker Tilly, Cooperative Personnel Services, POLIHIRE and GovHR USA, according to city spokesman Spencer Watson.
The contract's initial term is for one year, from last September through Sept. 26, 2023, with the option of three additional terms of one year each, according to a signed copy. The two parties also could renew the contract for a shorter duration.
According to the contract, Mackenzie Eason must "develop and implement a recruitment strategy involving a national search" for an assistant public works director, as well as other positions as specified by the city.
Additionally, the firm was tasked with recruiting at least five qualified applicants for the targeted position. Other activities might include assisting with interview panels and the negotiation of terms of employment, the contract said.
[CONTRACT: LR hires Texas firm in department head search » arkansasonline.com/1125hiring/]
The agreement requires Mackenzie Eason to refer qualified applicants within three months of the date it was signed.
Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore signed the agreement on Sept. 26. Darien George, president and partner at Mackenzie Eason, signed the contract on behalf of the firm the following day.
In an email, Watson said the assistant director position within Public Works has been vacant since former city employee Ronny Loe resigned from the job in November 2020.
"The position has been open for applicants since that time without a successful replacement being found. The search firm is being utilized to reach more potential applicants due to the difficulty of filling the position," Watson wrote.
Relying on search firms to fill vacancies at the level of department director has been historically uncommon for Little Rock, according to Watson.
"Outside agencies were engaged to advertise the City Manager position in 2002, but applications were accepted internally," he wrote. "Human Resources indicated a search firm may have been involved in the 1989 search for a Chief of Police, but records that far back aren't immediately on hand to confirm."
According to news accounts of the city's search for a police chief in 1988, the Jensen-Oldani and Associates search firm of Bellevue, Wash., recruited and recommended six candidates for the job. The city ultimately chose one of those candidates, Lou Caudell, a veteran of the Dallas Police Department, to become the next Little Rock police chief. Caudell served as Little Rock chief until 1999, when he retired.
Mackenzie Eason has not been engaged to find a permanent chief of police at this time, according to Watson.
Former Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey resigned last May, and while Mayor Frank Scott Jr. initially said he would appoint a permanent replacement before the Nov. 8 election, no successor has emerged.