Council narrows city attorney recruitment process, removes written exercise and sets two‑day on-site interviews

HR presented a recruitment and on-site interview plan for the city attorney position and council debated membership of review subcommittees, the mayor’s role, phone-interview participants, and whether to include a written exercise.

Council settled the process as follows: HR will screen for minimum qualifications and provide a scoring rubric; all council members may review applications in pairs so no gathering exceeds two council members at a time during the screening phase; phone interviews will be conducted by the mayor and two council members appointed by the mayor plus HR; the written exercise was removed by council vote; finalists will be invited to a two‑day on-site process that includes a panel interview (scored), meetings with department staff, a city tour, a public presentation in council chambers (with invitations to ISU student government and local legal offices), and reference checks focused on finalists. The council authorized closed‑session debriefing to select a finalist and directed HR to begin advertising May 1.