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04-03-03: Celina officials looking to fill administration post
By SEAN RICE
The Daily Standard
  
    City officials plan to begin advertising today for a director of administrative services to succeed Dave Schmidt, who retires in mid-May.
    The personnel and finance committee of Celina City Council met at noon Wednesday to discuss hiring a replacement and the needed qualifications for the job, which has a starting salary in the range of $45,000 to $52,000 annually.
    City administration has a plan to keep the names of the applicants out of public view by utilizing a personnel firm kept on retainer for contract negotiations and other employee issues that arise.
    Safety Service Director Mike Sovinski told the committee that applicants will contact the firm Clemens/Nelson & Associates of Lima directly, not the city. The firm will collect the applications during a two or three week period, then evaluate the group applications and resumes for qualities outlined in the job description for another couple weeks. At that point, the firm will supply the city with a short list of the top applicants, only identified by number.
    When the anonymous list is whittled down to three by city officials, then the names will be furnished to the city and become public information.
    When asked by a councilor, Sovinski said no one in the city will know who the applicants are until the final stages.
    "We would be picking on qualifications not names," Sovinski said.
    When the whole process is done, a new person will be ready to take the job shortly after Schmidt leaves, Sovinski said.
    Some of the three committee members and two visiting councilors in attendance questioned the purpose of keeping the names confidential and waiting to hold personal interviews until the end.
    Sovinski said the job seeks a highly qualified individual with management experience, and he feels the job description and application process is detailed enough to allow the list of applicants to be narrowed down to three. The list is best kept confidential to not risk having a qualified individual not apply because of the public exposure, which could hurt their current positions, he added.
    "It ensures us that a highly qualified person would not be reluctant to apply in fear of losing their job," Sovinski said.
    The position's qualification list was updated Wednesday to be much like the safety-service director's qualities. The city seeks an individual with a bachelor's degree in business management or related degree with five years experience in management or a combination of education training and experience.
    Councilor Angie King asked that another meeting be scheduled to discuss remaining unresolved issues with the community development department. At the beginning of the meeting, committee member Denny Smith said that Schmidt's position and the community development director's position were on the agenda for discussion, but the topic was never raised.

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