Waukee Council Not Unanimous in Choosing Firm to Lead Search for New City Administrator

The 's choice of Slavin Management Consultants to help in the search for its next city administrator may be a controversial decision because of criticism the firm received during its West Des Moines city manager search two years ago.

In 2010, Slavin Management Consultants was picked to help the city of West Des Moines choose a new city manager. One candidate, Patrick Banger, a former city manager in O'Fallon, Mo., stood out among the pool of three selected by Slavin to interview.

During the course of the interview, an audit of O'Fallon's 2003 finances showed questionable spending that occurred while Banger was the city's manager, a position he resigned from in 2004. City officials in West Des Moines put a stop to the interview and later hired Greg Sparks for the job. Sparks took over the position in May 2011.

Slavin explained that they had prior knowledge of the results of the audit, but felt Banger hadn't done anything wrong. West Des Moines council members  were not made aware of the audit when Banger was being considered for the job.

Waukee city councilman Shane Blanchard said Slavin officials acknowledged the slip up in the interview with the council on Aug. 27.

"It was brought up in the interview and they took responsibility for it," Blanchard said. "They assured us that it wouldn't happen again."

Blanchard was the only council member to vote against Slavin Management Consultants. He said the incident in West Des Moines did sway his vote somewhat.

"There were two different firms we listened to that day," he said. "I didn't know the whole story about what happened in West Des Moines, but I knew enough and that did have a bearing on my decision. For me, it came down to who I felt most comfortable with and Slavin wasn't my choice."

Slavin Management Consultants out of Atlanta, Ga. submitted an initial proposal of $13,000 to help find a replacement for Jeff Kooistra, Waukee's former city administrator. resigned his position in May. Brad Deets was named interim city administrator at that time.

The Waukee City Council will consider an approval for Slavin's contract tonight its regular scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m. at Waukee City Hall.