On Monday, the Board of Health, which oversees the new La Plata County Public Health, exited an hourlong executive session before publicly voting unanimously to restart the director recruitment process rather than extend an offer to sole finalist Michael Byrns, a toxicologist and assistant director at the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Board members were well within their right to step from a closed meeting, then vote without addressing the public. All legal and legitimate.
We’re just curious, though. What would we know had a reporter for The Durango Herald not asked questions?
As reported in the Herald on Monday, Board President Patricia Supanich-Wall shared that the board is seeking a candidate with experience managing a larger budget and more direct and indirect reports, as the public health director would supervise nearly 50 people.
Supanich-Wall also said the decision was based largely on collective feedback, which was similar from all whom participated in the public meet and greet, and interviewing process.
After the meeting, “It was clear there was not a need for formal discussion and a move for a motion to restart the search was appropriate,” Supanich-Wall said on Friday.
Hiring a public health director – a wide-ranging, public-facing position – is a critical decision and the board wants to get it right. Also, the board is within its budget in restarting recruitment, so no worries about overspending.
It’s just that it’s the third time in less than a year the county has tried to hire a director. We’re curious what’s missing in the skillsets of candidates or whether it’s a larger recruiting dilemma for the remote Southwest.
Other nationwide searches are coming up, too, for Fort Lewis College and La Plata Electric Association, in need of a president and CEO, respectively. Will these organizations face the same challenges?
In this next go-round for a public health director, Supanich-Wall said the screening will be comprehensive and concise; interview times will be expanded; and the time from posting to reviewing candidates to selection of finalists will be shortened. The board wants a candidate with more experience fostering a positive culture, mentoring staff members with varied backgrounds and financial management of complex budgets, along with being a strong communicator and collaborator.
Fine-tuning how to determine the best.
Newly working together, this board of private citizens with diverse perspectives brings much. But it doesn’t necessarily streamline the process. A hiring board is very different from a supervisor with seasoned, similar experience making a direct hire.
In any job search, qualities that identify a promising leader can be nuanced. It comes down to instinct, whether a candidate could instill confidence in the board. A fire-in-the-belly, a spark, an ease or a trait that’s difficult to articulate but can be felt. Or, for example, realizing a candidate is fluent in Spanish. An advantage and something that reshapes hiring criteria.
“You know it when you see it,” Supanich-Wall said.
For whatever reason, we trust it was prudent for the board to go back to the drawing board. We also appreciate hiring protections, matters of privacy, good taste and etiquette in sharing information.
And when appropriate, we’d like to be as well-informed as possible. Share with the public what you can.
