Next on our agenda is the matter of concluding the process of identifying and appointing the County's next CEO. This decision culminates a process that has spanned more than 6 months. The process has received critical media attention, so | would like to take a moment to address concerns that have been raised. The process of selecting Spokane County's next CEO was transparent, thorough and well defined. A few key points, which have been previously stated, but are worth repeating... + The job was posted in January and involved nationwide advertising for the position. Ads were placed in comparable west coast cities such as Boise, Portland, Seattle and Salt Lake and advertised nationally through the National Association of Counties and the International City/County Management Association. aa All applications received an initial screening from the County Senior Executive team and Senior Human Resources staff to identify those applicants who met the position qualifications. Marshall Farnell, our current CEO and the person who is perhaps best positioned to determine the qualifications of applicants, was a part of that team. The applications were then forwarded to seven prominent individuals, people who are themselves highly qualified to judge the qualifications of our candidates because they have proven themselves as successful executives of significant organizations in our community. These seven were engaged to scrutinize the qualified candidates and to identify the most qualified ones to be considered by Commissioner French and myself.+ Then, for the first time since we created the process, the Board of County Commissioners became involved; we interviewed the ranked finalists who had been chosen by the selection committee + Today, we are at the final stage of our process....the selection of anew Spokane County CEO. Commissioner French and myself interviewed two candidates. One of them has since pulled their name from consideration; that leaves us to decide whether or not to appoint the number one ranked and sole remaining finalist for the position: Todd Mielke. ‘And while there are those who might claim that the process might have somehow been rigged to produce this result, I'd like to assure the citizens of Spokane County that the process was fair and unbiased. It was also extraordinary, given that no process of any kind is required of the Board of County Commissioners in making personnel decisions of this kind. Commissioner French and | designed this process to ensure that it was transparent and accountable to the public. That being said, | move that the Board of County Commissioners appoint Todd Mielke as the Chief Executive Officer of Spokane County and that staff move forward with negotiating and signing a contract that will include a start date mutually agreeable to the parties and following his resignation from the Board of County Commissioners once an employment contract has been executed.| would like to speak to my motion.. As | previously noted, we employed a hiring process that was thorough and thoughtful. It was formally established by Commissioner French and myself this past December and January. Commissioner French and I approved each stage of the process. Early on we dismissed the idea of expending public money to retain a headhunter as being an unnecessary, if not wasteful, use of public funds. We were confident in the expertise of our Human Resources Department to promote the position sufficiently to attract qualified candidates. That process worked. We received 84 applicants from 24 states. While it might be a practice of some organizations to employ a headhunter, it is not universally treated as a prerequisite - even for hiring a CEO. Avista didn't find Scott Morris through a headhunter. Mayor Condon didn't find Theresa Sanders, the clty Administrator, through a headhunter. In fact, he didn’t undergo any formal or public process at all in hiring her. In other words, Commissioner French and | had enough confidence in our own staff and their knowledge to nationally advertise the position and to initially screen applicants for qualifications. And in that process, we were saving precious public money. Commissioner French and | appropriately exercised our discretion and appropriately balanced the interest of the public in deciding to forego a headhunter.Commissioner French and | also mutually decided on employing a selection committee to identify from among the qualified applicants the most qualified candidates for the position. He and | appointed individuals to that committee by consensus. We chose people who are prominent executives in our community. People whose reputations are above reproach. People who, while active in the affairs of our community and respected advocates for the welfare of our community, have not been politically active enough to disqualify themselves from serving on the screening committee, knowing that Commissioner Mielke was one of the applicants. Commissioner French and | took great pains to ensure that the screening process and those involved in it had high integrity. Permit me to mention those individuals and once again thank them for the significant amount of time they put into this process to ensure Spokane County had a qualified CEO candidate: Jeff Phillips, CEO of Rosauers; Christine Johnson, Chancellor of the Community Colleges of Spokane; Elaine Couture, Regional Chief Executive of Providence Health Care; Kevin Pearson, CEO of Wagstaff, Inc.; Doug Cochran, Chief of Staff for the State Auditor Office and a former Yakima County Administrator; Kris, Mikkelson, Former CEO of Inland Power, and Rob Higgins, CEO of the Spokane Realtors Association. These are highly respected and qualified people in our community and we can not thank them enough for their involvement and commitment to our CEO process. This group of well respected leaders recommended to Commissioner French and myself two candidates in ranked order for our consideration: Number 1) Todd Mielke and Number 2)Richard Davis. CommissionerFrench and | interviewed both candidates. As | mentioned earlier, Richard Davis has withdrawn his name from consideration. So, that leaves Todd Mielke, the number one ranked candidate and the only remaining qualified candidate for consideration. | honor and respect the process that Commissioner French and | created. And | honor and respect the members of the selection committees. | am confident in their judgment. To disregard and dismiss their recommendation would be to second guess their judgment and to dishonor their esteemed professional credentials and reputations. | am confident that Todd Mielke is qualified to serve as CEO of Spokane County. And as long as he is qualified - and, again, the selection committee determined that he is - Commissioner French and | should feel,confident and justified in appointing him. | understand that there are those who believe that because we are arriving at the conclusion of a process that culminated with one of our own County Commissioners as a - as THE - finalist, that we should start the process over again. It's as though something is wrong with the outcome. To those who question the prospect that Todd Mielke should be appointed, | would like to remind that the hiring of prominent executives from within is not uncommon in this community - or others. | mentioned earlier that Scott Morris was appointed as Chairman, President and CEO of Avista from within. Thayne McCulloh, President of Gonzaga University, was promoted from within. Those are just two,examples that come to mind, but I'm certain there are others.Therefore, it is out of respect for the process that Commissioner French and | established and for the staff and community leaders who played pivotal roles in it that | once, again, seek a second to my motion. IF no second to the motion... At this point, it appears that my motion is defeated for lack of being seconded, That concludes our process for appointing a new CEO. Soon, Commissioners Mielke, Commissioner French and | will confer about how to proceed from here