00:00:00,600	S1:
All right. It's 4:00 on June 2nd. This is a special meeting of the Board of City commissioners. We'll call the meeting to order. Call roll.

00:00:09,440	S2:
Commissioner Risch here. Commissioner Zenker here. Commissioner Connelly here. Commissioner Cleary. here. Yes.

00:00:18,720	S1:
First item on the agenda is public comment.

00:00:25,200	Is there anyone who wish to speak public comment? S1:
I don't see anyone. We should hold tickets of this. Say we made a couple of bucks. Is there any money in the hallway? It's a public comment, period. We have Agenda item. E is. City administrator would like us to consider the hire of a new finance director. So, Jason.

00:00:42,120	S2:
Good afternoon.

00:00:43,440	S3:
Commissioners. Um, you'll indulge me just a little bit. I'll give you a brief summary of our process. Looking back to November 7th of 2025, we found ourselves without a permanent finance director. Um, in that time that our existing comptroller acts as the interim finance director. And I think you would all agree that Eric has done a tremendous job carrying the load, especially embarking through the annual audit. And now here we are in the throes of our budget season, and he and the team on third floor have done a great job giving us the information that we need to come forward with that recommendation in the near future. That said, we actually went through three separate processes to get to this point today. The first two times we cast the net looking for applicants. Frankly, we just didn't receive the qualified individuals that we were looking for. We started around the holiday season at the end of 25, which may have played into this a little bit, but over the course of three separate processes, we had 16 qualified individuals that we evaluated in one way or another. In this final process, we ended up with five individuals that needed through the initial screening process, meaning they came with the credentials necessary to be considered for the position. One of those individuals withdrew very early in the process, citing that their skill set is likely not what we were looking for. It's recognizing that they probably didn't have the credentials to get all the way through. So the four that we did work through the process were all subject to an initial score series of questions, just getting some general background information about them. We did a teams interview with all the applicants initially to talk about the job and describe some of the expectations, some of the requirements of the position, but then also to ask some of those general get to know you questions that afforded them the opportunity to expand and found on some of the written material that they had provided. From there, each of the applicants was required to complete the accomplishment survey, which is a question series of questions that ask them to describe a situation where they were in a leadership position. They were in a integrity situation. They were a budget development situation. From there, those responses were scored and evaluated by a series of individuals who are in the profession of government finance. Following that became the general Management in Basket Test and of course, the face to face interview. The face to face interview was conducted last week, Friday. That committee, the selection committee that will ultimately provide the recommendation, was composed of Schmitz Commissioner Cleary Cathy Feist, who is the finance director for the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, and Leanne Schmidt, our HR director, and myself. And based on all of that work and all of those scores and evaluations and tests and everything coming forward. I am here to recommend on behalf of the selection committee, the name of Brian's score. Ryan would come to us with an MBA of Masters of Business Administration. He is a certified public accountant. He's got approximately 20 years of professional experience. More than 13 of those years would be spent in government finance, previously spent nearly ten years in the state treasurer's office, and then spent three plus years in the Retirement and Investment Office, also with the state. Currently, he is employed in the private sector and has been there for about a year. He has a nice blend of both private accounting, but then also public finance would come to us with a great deal of experience with legislative reporting and budget development there, as well as presentations. Leon requested his publicly available personnel file and all the reports from past evaluations and previous leaders in very high regard. A lot of enthusiasm, he would demonstrate, did demonstrate successive roles in leadership throughout his time at the Treasurer's office. Each position became more and more responsible and dynamic changes as the state treasurer changed during his time there. And so, um, just speaking with him and evaluating his credentials and his professional experiences. I kind of joked with him. I said, where were you the first two times we did this? Because he he would come to us with a very high level of skills and competency, but then also recognizing the work that Eric and Paige have done to keep the finance team moving forward and continuing to work as a team. I think we would welcome him here knowing he's got a good, stable group of people around him that know their roles and would work well with him as a leader. So with that, I offer the recommendation. The salary is certainly part of this discussion. The salary range was posted between 150 and 175,000. We have made the offer to employ about 160,000, based on background checks and drug screens, and all the other things that an employee would have to go through. So that is the recommendation from the selection committee. I certainly don't want to speak for Commissioner Cleary or Mayor Schmitz. They were part of this as well. But I'm happy to answer any questions and is here as well from the HR perspective.

00:06:12,310	S1:
So I felt really good about him. He certainly came with all the credentials and he's helped put together the real set of financial statements or their combined. Consolidated financial statements. All government term we can get into but used to be the preferred. But it's not totally cap anymore. But basically what our statements would look like if you put together for real already or overseeing that. So that was kind of critical to me, knowing that we had somebody who could help our team manage that. So we want our own account X and help site services to accomplish that. We interviewed very well.

00:06:53,400	S1:
Yes. Will he be okay with the 160?

00:06:56,120	S4:
Have you mentioned a number?

00:06:57,560	S3:
Uh, yes. The commissioner Risch and commissioners will. Leanne and I spoke with him yesterday. We did disclose that that would be the salary, and he indicated he would be comfortable with that range because it was in the middle of the hiring range. And it would, uh, it was something that he was comfortable without any negotiation.

00:07:19,640	S4:
I'll make a motion to approve as presented. Second.

00:07:22,720	S1:
Any further discussion.

00:07:27,060	S4:
I just want to compliment Eric in the finance team and whatever. It's not easy to put on that hat and be the interpreter and get us through there. So I appreciate that. But kudos again to your team because I just want to echo what Jason says. Sometimes we don't have leadership. It's kind of tough road to travel, but you guys manage it very well. So my compliments to the team.

00:07:45,740	S1:
They did a great job and they are still doing a great job. Appreciate everything you've done. But we do have a motion a second. Any other discussion? Hearing none. We'll call roll.

00:07:54,860	S2:
Commissioner Zenker yes. Commissioner Connelly. Yes. Commissioner Cleary. Yes. Yes.

00:08:03,420	S1:
Yes. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned again. Agent Eric, thank you for everything you've been doing, and I know you've had to step off.

00:08:14,540	S1:
Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

00:08:16,740	S2:
Let's start off. Yes.

00:08:19,180	S3:
Forgot to mention that.

00:08:20,340	S4:
I'm sorry you guys work on the detail.

00:08:22,700	S1:
That's all we have. We're here.