Detroit, On The Verge of Bankruptcy, Pays A Staffing Firm To Find A Police Chief?

**313WX** · November-22-12, 01:34 PM

Doesn't Detroit still have a Human Resources Department?

Why are they still being paid if they're not doing their jobs?

What's so hard about posting an ad on Governmentjobs.com, selecting the most qualified candidates and bringing them in for interviews?

Bing has to go.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...chief#comments

**corktownyuppie** · November-22-12, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

What's so hard about posting an ad on Governmentjobs.com, selecting the most qualified candidates and bringing them in for interviews?

Have you ever been involved in an executive search? If it were as simple [[and inexpensive) as posting and doing interviews, that's exactly what we'd do. An executive director search can take 3-6 months to recruit and vet. For a high profile position as this it could take longer.

That said, I do see your point. If we don't have the money, what are we doing wasting it. I'm about ready just to merge DPD with the Wayne County Sheriff's office. It would save the need for a search, and we can just be absorbed into the WCS system.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-22-12, 02:00 PM

This seems quite smart to me. Realization that you're a drunk is a great start on the road to recovery.

I say pay a good search firm to do a good job of what they do. You can easily pay them by firing the 80% fat at the water board if you're really worried about money. Yeah, another consultant. What do they know. All them people are needed.

Enjoy the fruits of that idea.

**corktownyuppie** · November-22-12, 02:04 PM

Detroit doesn't need a democracy. It needs a technocracy. Have the citizens elect a city council. Have the council elect a Mayor. Let the Mayor appoint highly skilled experts in municipal turnaround and then grant them emergency authority to totally restructure government and city operations from the top down with no restrictions.

Freed from political pressures to avoid doing what is painful [[but necessary), they can clean up a whole lot in a short amount of time.

**Honky Tonk** · November-22-12, 02:09 PM

How about if we just eliminate all the "Reverends" from office and hire people that'll pay taxes from their salaries?

**313WX** · November-22-12, 02:11 PM

It appears several other municipalities that are MUCH smaller than Detroit are searching for their Corporation Counsels and Police Chiefs just fine without hiring a search firm.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobsearch.cfm

It's just the redundancy I don't get. If the city is broke, why does it need two of everything? If you're going to use outside firms to conduct hiring, then completely outsource the human resources department.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-22-12, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

It appears several other municipalities that are MUCH smaller than Detroit are searching for their Corporation Counsels and Police Chiefs just fine without hiring a search firm.

The fact that some cities aren't using headhunters doesn't have any relevance to Detroit. Using its internal methods, Detroit has been going through Chiefs like tissue paper. I'm glad they recognize their weakness here. That's a good sign.

Originally Posted by 313WX

It's just the redundancy I don't get. If the city is broke, why does it need two of everything? If you're going to use outside firms to conduct hiring, then completely outsource the human resources department.

There needn't be redundancy between HR and headhunter. They should be complementary. Its not at all unusual for a company with a great HR department to use headhunters when seeking key team members.

Even if you outsource headhunting, you still need an HR department to manage your personnel. Those Catberts do much more than hiring. For example, in the private sector, they fire.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-22-12, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

<snip>
It's just the redundancy I don't get. If the city is broke, why does it need two of everything? If you're going to use outside firms to conduct hiring, then completely outsource the human resources department.

Shorter answer: They don't need two of everything. But politically, they can't downsize. And they know they need the help. Its not real leadership yet, but its a good sign.

Shollin · November-22-12, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

It appears several other municipalities that are MUCH smaller than Detroit are searching for their Corporation Counsels and Police Chiefs just fine without hiring a search firm.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobsearch.cfm

It's just the redundancy I don't get. If the city is broke, why does it need two of everything? If you're going to use outside firms to conduct hiring, then completely outsource the human resources department.

But Detroit isn't a small city and Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in the country. We aren't looking for someone to replace Andy Griffith. Besides I can't believe this gets more attention than the Sterling Heights time clock scandal or the Eastpointe cop who embezzled money for drugs.

**mwilbert** · November-22-12, 11:12 PM

If there is any appointive position in the city that it would be worth doing the best possible search and recruitment for, it would be the chief of police. As someone pointed out, whatever methods they have been using for the past several decades don't appear to have been very successful.

I just hope that if they find the right candidate, the mayor is willing to do what it takes to make the hire and then support whoever it is as they try to fix the DPD.

**Kevgoblue** · November-22-12, 11:13 PM

Didn't the last big executive search bring Detroit the incredibly talented Connie Calloway?

**Wesley Mouch** · November-23-12, 01:20 AM

Originally Posted by Kevgoblue

Didn't the last big executive search bring Detroit the incredibly talented Connie Calloway?

So what's your point? Executive searches are bad ideas? Don't toss baby with bathwater.

**michimoby** · November-23-12, 03:36 AM

I'm currently engaged in the process for an executive position at a large non-profit, and just had my final interview [[of three) last week. During that discussion, the hiring manager said he received over 250 applications for the position, each of whom needs to be pre-screened, contacted, interviewed, evaluated, etc.

If I think of the loaded cost it would take for him to vet those resumes, and the lost time doing his day job...Hiring a search firm with the comparative advantage to accomplish this in a more expeditious manner makes perfect sense to me.

**coracle** · November-23-12, 06:51 AM

I can understand a small city not having the resources to do the evaluation but Detroit is a large important well manned City and should be capable of hiring its own executives.
It's a CYA tactic. When the chosen appointee screws up you can lay the blame off onto somebody "from out of town".

**corktownyuppie** · November-23-12, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

It appears several other municipalities that are MUCH smaller than Detroit are searching for their Corporation Counsels and Police Chiefs just fine without hiring a search firm.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobsearch.cfm

It's just the redundancy I don't get. If the city is broke, why does it need two of everything? If you're going to use outside firms to conduct hiring, then completely outsource the human resources department.

Good points. I think that a really effective argument would be to find some municipalities bigger than Detroit that use their own search firms in-house.

Executive search is a totally different animal than most hiring. The city's HR department can and should be relied upon to fill entry- to- mid-level positions. On any given day at the University of Michigan, for example, HR dept handles the recruiting and interviewing for hundreds [[thousands?) of open positions in everything from physical plant management to accounting, faculty, etc.

But when searching for a new head coach or athletic director, a long process involving the president herself as well as the board of regents needed to take place. Plus, given the highly sensitive nature of the position, no candidate for the position would ever publicly admit to their interest in it because such information would be catastrophic should the new job not be a good fit for them.

[[Imagine the news in the Dallas or Boston newspapers if their chief of police were found to have been interviewing for an out of state job with 3 years still on their contract!)

Consequently, the whole process is this giant ballet where the executive has his/her own inside people confidentially contact the inner circle of the Mayor and discretely talk about details, pay, interest level, etc. Then when the deal is 90% done, and the candidate is willing to risk going public with it, then it they will escalate through group interviews, background vetting, etc.

In other words, this is way over the heads of any HR department.

But, that said, it's hard to justify the expense when we're out of money. Of course, my idea is just to merge with Wayne County Sheriff...so what do I know?

**cla1945** · November-23-12, 09:36 AM

There are plenty of highly qualified applicants within the DPD. Commander Steven Dolunt would be a very good candidate but has one major thing against him...he is a white man. Seems to me that all the powers that be in Detroit are adverse to having any white person in command...anywhere. The Clowncil doesn't want to relinquish any of their powers to a white man in Lansing, they refuse to "give Detroit away", as though they own the City themselves; and while doing so, they are endangering the entire City. It's time to wake up and stop being so racist against whites in Detroit and give them a chance to govern a City that is about to drop into an abyss.

**Zacha341** · November-23-12, 10:44 AM

That kind of provincial thinking MUST end or we're dropping on off into the abyss.

Originally Posted by cla1945

The Clowncil doesn't want to relinquish any of their powers to a white man in Lansing, they refuse to "give Detroit away", as though they own the City themselves; and while doing so, they are endangering the entire City. It's time to wake up and stop being so racist against whites in Detroit and give them a chance to govern a City that is about to drop into an abyss.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-23-12, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

That kind of provincial thinking MUST end or we're dropping on off into the abyss.

Brother, we are in the abyss.

**BW7085** · November-23-12, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by cla1945

There are plenty of highly qualified applicants within the DPD. Commander Steven Dolunt would be a very good candidate but has one major thing against him...he is a white man. Seems to me that all the powers that be in Detroit are adverse to having any white person in command...anywhere. The Clowncil doesn't want to relinquish any of their powers to a white man in Lansing, they refuse to "give Detroit away", as though they own the City themselves; and while doing so, they are endangering the entire City. It's time to wake up and stop being so racist against whites in Detroit and give them a chance to govern a City that is about to drop into an abyss.

I wish people and the media would stop saying Detroit will not vote for a white candidate. There was this great woman who stayed in Detroit name Maryann Mahaffey. She served on city council from 1973 to 2005. She was council president [[top vote getter) from 2001 to 2005. And I believe if she wouldn't have past away could have ran for mayor and won. You see she was passionate about Detroit and the people of Detroit and the voters knew this. There was no hidden agenda with her. Not all people in Detroit are racist just like not all people from the suburbs are racist.

**Zacha341** · November-23-12, 12:02 PM

I'm a 'sister' actually [[smile)... and yeah I feel you on that. Some days it's like finger nails hanging on the edge!

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

Brother, we are in the abyss.

**Zacha341** · November-23-12, 12:04 PM

WELL STATED. I vote based on qualifications for the job and shared values at every level.

Originally Posted by BW7085

Not all people in Detroit are racist just like not all people from the suburbs are racist.

**Wesley Mouch** · November-23-12, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

WELL STATED. I vote based on qualifications for the job and shared values at every level.

Sister! Spread that word.

**gnome** · November-23-12, 07:52 PM

Why would anyone accept this position? With Bing up for re-election, and no guarantee of even running, his term is ending on January 1, 2014. Any national candidate for the position of Chief would have to up root his family, leave his current position, move to Detroit and then prepare himself to lose his job come Jan 1.

this entire search process is a fools errand.

**Zacha341** · November-23-12, 09:24 PM

Yeah G the time is grand! Thus, it just about right for the city to be pursuing it --

--!

Originally Posted by gnome

Why would anyone accept this position? With Bing up for re-election, and no guarantee of even running, his term is ending on January 1, 2014. Any national candidate for the position of Chief would have to up root his family, leave his current position, move to Detroit and then prepare himself to lose his job come Jan 1.

this entire search process is a fools errand.

**coracle** · November-24-12, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by cla1945

There are plenty of highly qualified applicants within the DPD. Commander Steven Dolunt would be a very good candidate but has one major thing against him...he is a white man. Seems to me that all the powers that be in Detroit are adverse to having any white person in command...anywhere. The Clowncil doesn't want to relinquish any of their powers to a white man in Lansing, they refuse to "give Detroit away", as though they own the City themselves; and while doing so, they are endangering the entire City. It's time to wake up and stop being so racist against whites in Detroit and give them a chance to govern a City that is about to drop into an abyss.

I think we will see this happen in several areas in the near future because Detroit does not have a growing population and is becoming "ungovernable" through not having enough money coming in to meet the City's needs. The time is right to introduce a few white "fall guys" into key positions to "lead" the city through the next few years and "own" what is to come for posterity, [[and if Gov. Snyder negotiates too much he could end up the "lead guy").
Mike Duggan for vanguard?