Mountain House officials start hunt for general manager/Tracy Press

by Denise Ellen Rizzo Aug 18, 2011 |
MOUNTAIN HOUSE — The search for a new general manager for Mountain House has begun with the hiring of a recruitment firm.

After meeting with representatives from four agencies, the Mountain House Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday, Aug. 17, to hire Sacramento-based Peckham & McKenney Executive Search and Consulting. The board’s decision was based in part on that company’s past work in the Mountain House community and the hunger to place the community’s general manager for the first time.

General Manager Paul Sensibaugh, who has held that position since before the town was built, announced last month that he will retire as of January.

Before Wednesday’s vote, representatives from two Sacramento companies, one from Emeryville and one from Rocklin made five-minute presentations, followed by 25 minutes of questioning from board members.

After the interviews, board members said each firm had strengths and weaknesses, but two companies stood out: McKenney and the Rocklin-based firm, Ralph Anderson & Associates.

During Phil McKenney’s presentation, he told the board his company has been in business since 2004, and his goal would be to create a pool of candidates with varied strengths. He also gave them a two-year guarantee on the person he recommended for the job.

Board member Jass Singh asked McKenney how many résumés he anticipated receiving, and McKenney said the pool of candidates for high-level positions has gone down, but he expected 45 to 70 initially. He said his firm would cut the list to between 15 and 18 and then call in the top eight to 12 candidates for in-person interviews with the board.

McKenney said his company usually receives 90 résumés for general manager and city manager positions, but none of those have been in a special service district. He added, however, that he already has candidates in mind for the Mountain House position.

“I work for you,” McKenney said. “I look for people that fit the profile.”

During board discussions, board member Celeste Farron said, “We have a tough decision ahead of us.”

She said she liked both companies, McKenney and Anderson, but felt Anderson showed it was more prepared and more thorough and could hit the ground running.

All the board members agreed that both company representatives did their homework in preparation for their interview with the board, but some said McKenney offered a little bit more.

Once the board approved the consulting firm, it voted to unanimously add to the search scope a general manager job description, a copy of the contract and a compensation package.

“We need to think about what is important to us,” board member Bernice King-Tingle said. “What’s really important … things we want to see.”

The budget to search for a general manager is $30,000, and a list of finalists is expected to go before the board in November.


Copyright 2011 Tracy Press. All rights reserved.