Cost Of Evanston City Manager Search Rising To $95,000

EVANSTON, IL — After the first search for a new permanent city manager ended unsuccessfully last month, the City Council is set spend significantly more to hire a new executive recruitment firm.

A $70,000 contract with Stanton Chase, a Baltimore-based consulting and search firm, is on the agenda for approval Monday.

The city manager search started last year after former City Manager Erika Storlie negotiated a resignation and severance agreement amid an investigation in the city's handling of allegations of sexual misconduct among parks department staff assigned to the lakefront.

In September 2021, the City Council approved a $25,000 contract with Sacramento, California-based Cooperative Personnel Services, or CPS HR, to lead the search.

"Following the process orchestrated by CPS HR, the final candidate accepted a position elsewhere," city attorney Nick Cummings said in a memo to the City Council.

Daniel Ramos, Baltimore's deputy city administrator, appeared to have more support on the council than his fellow finalist, Sacramento Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso.

But instead of taking over as chief executive of Evanston, Ramos opted to become executive director of budget and management for Harris County, Texas, the nation's third-largest county.

According to the retention letter, Stanton Chase's search will be led by Jeff Perkins, a former vice president of SpaceX and chief people officer at NPR; Nancy Newman, a former senior vice president for Viacom CBS; and Eric Van Der Zanden, a former captain of the Dutch police.

The agreement includes a one-year warranty on the performance of the new city manager. If the person quits or gets fired for reasons related directly to the search process, the firm offered to do a new search for free.

Former corporation counsel and deputy city manager Kelley Gandurski has served as interim city manager since Storlie's October 2021 departure. She has not expressed interest in taking the job on a full-time basis.

Related:

• Finalist For Evanston City Manager Takes Different Job
• Group Endorses Baltimore Deputy For Evanston City Manager Job
• Evanston City Manager Finalists Named, Community Meetings Planned