Reconvened on July 8, 1998 at 9:10 a.m.

Motion by Stutsman, second by Lacina, to enter into Executive Session at 9:10 a.m. to interview Debbie Fuhrer for the position of SEATS Director under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to leave Executive Session at 10:19 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 10:19 a.m. to discuss the interview of Debbie Fuhrer under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Stutsman, second by Lacina, to leave Executive Session at 10:35 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Recessed at 10:35 a.m.; reconvened on July 9, 1998 at 8:10 a.m.

Motion by Stutsman, second by Jordahl, to enter into Executive Session at 8:10 a.m. to interview Greg Montour for the position of SEATS Director under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Stutsman, second by Jordahl, to leave Executive Session at 9:05 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Recessed at 9:05 a.m.; reconvened at 9:15 a.m.

Tom Feldman conducted his interview by phone. Bolkcom asked Feldman if he wished to conduct the interview in executive session and Feldman declined.

Bolkcom asked what attracted Feldman to the SEATS Director position? Feldman said career goals. He said he wants to find a position where he enjoys going to work and he found this in the Para-transit industry and now wants to advance.

Stutsman stated that driving was a secondary function of the position and not a requirement and then asked, with reasonable accommodation would he be able to perform the essential functions of the SEATS Director job. Feldman said he does have a Class C CDL and acts as a back up driver currently.

Jordahl asked Feldman what abilities and qualities that he sees in himself that will help him to be successful in the position and where does he think he might have some difficulty. Feldman said people have to be happy doing what they're doing. He said he's happy and feels he's doing something worthwhile. He said he is very organized and thorough and sets goals for the day.

Duffy asked what was the most valuable thing that Feldman learned from working in past positions. Feldman said he deals with 45 employees he learned to treat each one differently according to their individual strengths and differences.

Lacina asked what he would have to change in his present position for him to continue working there. Feldman said he is happy with his present position and the primary reason for a move is a salary increase.

Bolkcom asked Feldman to briefly discuss the Americans with Disabilities Act as it relates to public transit. Feldman said he had to ensure they had ADA-accessible vehicles and rewrite ADA job descriptions, he said they are a regional COG and have a regional job training program.

Stutsman stated that the position is in charge of a para-transit service that runs almost year round and may require occasional long/early hours and or emergency/short notice duty, and asked if that would be a problem for him. Feldman said it would not be a problem and that currently he goes to work at 6:00 in the morning and gets a lot of requests for special services.

Jordahl stated that as the SEATS Director, Feldman would be responsible to supervise a staff of 40 full and part time drivers, dispatchers and dispatch-schedulers consistent with their collective bargaining contract. Jordahl asked Feldman to describe his past supervisory experience and his experience working with collective bargaining contracts. Feldman said that Carroll is not a union area and he has little experience with unions. He said he has 11 full-time drivers and 20 to 30 part-time drivers, and then one service manager. He hires for all of these positions and does the training.

Duffy asked him to describe his experience working with computers and software programs he has used to complete various projects and to emphasize fluid scheduling of a para-transit system. Feldman said he uses Microsoft Office for word processing and for a database program and uses Lotus.

Lacina asked Feldman how he would feel reporting to 5 bosses and having a relationship with an advisory Board. Feldman said having 5 bosses would be similar to his current system. He said they are a 6 county region with one supervisor from each region and they have an advisory council and operate similarly to SEATS.

Bolkcom asked when working with others what type of person is the easiest for him to work with and what type is the most difficult. Feldman said the easiest person for him to work with is one who is similar to himself. He likes working with someone who is a hands-on person and casual in his approach and part of the team. He said he struggles with people who don't treat him as part of the group.

Stutsman asked Feldman how he typically confronts subordinates with results that are not acceptable. Feldman said he does it directly in person. He said he sets up a meeting time before or after work and keeps it confidential, explains the consequences and goes by the job manuals.

Jordahl returned to an earlier question for which the second part may not have been addressed by Feldman; he asked about abilities and qualities where he may have some difficulty. Feldman said that might be in the are of employee problems under collective bargaining. Jordahl asked if Feldman has done computer scheduling. Feldman said he hasn't, but is setting it up for the coming year. Jordahl said we all have areas or skills we would like to change or improve and asked Feldman what were his? Feldman said he would want to improve his public speaking with a large group and advance his computer knowledge.

Duffy said that a typical problem that comes up in this position is resolving complaints from passengers, and asked Feldman how he would respond or handle complaints. Feldman said most of their complaints come over the phone, and he lets the person speak their mind and thanks them for bringing it to his attention. He has them put it in writing, tells them how he'll address it, and then follows up with them in writing.

Lacina posed the scenario in which it has been brought to Feldman's attention by another employee that one of his drivers is slurring her speech and has the smell of stale alcohol on her breath. The driver has stopped by the office to pick up her paycheck. She is due to punch in and go out on her route in 2 hours. What would he do? Feldman said he would follow the drug and alcohol policy and look for reasonable suspicion. He said he wouldn't allow the person to drive and he would have them take a drug test.

Bolkcom said that the SEATS program is unique in that over 50% of the funding for the program comes from the City. Although he is reporting directly to the Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, there may be other elected officials contacting him about problems and requests for information. He said this situation can create controversy. Bolkcom asked how far Feldman would or wouldn't he go in providing responses. Feldman said as a public agency he feels that SEATS should provide information as requested, and he would be as truthful as possible and divulge enough public information as he feels is appropriate.

Stutsman asked Feldman if he was hiring a person for the SEATS Director position what qualities would he look for. Feldman said he would look for one who was committed to the idea of public transportation, organized, and attentive to detail; timeliness is also important. He said he would also look for accuracy in reports and other duties.

Jordahl asked what experience he had in preparing and administering budgets. Feldman said he deals exclusively with the transit budget; and at the end of the third quarter he does budget analysis and works on budget. He said he has an operating budget and a project budget. Jordahl asked if Feldman deals with performance based budgeting. Feldman said he has detailed information and that and can break down cost per mile for every service

Duffy asked what Feldman had done to reduce his current department's operational costs or to save time. He said he saves agency money by performing a number of tasks; he said he has been a dispatcher, driver, equal opportunity employment officer, and OHSA officer. He said he only missed 6 days in 9 years of work, for the birth of children, and he also always comes in under his budget.

Lacina asked Feldman what his experience was in setting up a safe operation and reliable maintenance of public transit buses. Feldman said he and the service manager developed a vehicle safety checklist that drivers must do both morning and night. He said he trains each driver for a least 10 hours personally, then training continues with others. He said he also has meetings 2 times a year and CPR training.

Bolkcom asked what Feldman's current supervisors would say makes him most valuable to them. He said that the COG Director is his supervisor and he knows when he requests information he gets it promptly and he doesn't have to worry about transit related issues.

Stutsman asked in what areas does Feldman typically have the least amount of patience at work. Feldman said he tends not to want to wait for things and so he will do it himself. He said he will also do driving himself if nobody is available.

Jordahl asked how he handled delegation of duties to staff. Feldman said he does most of their scheduling and he does all of the statistical information and reporting and he does the payroll, processes expense vouchers and does the billing.

Duffy asked what kinds of decisions were the most difficult for him to make. Feldman said that driver discipline is the most difficult for him to make. He said he has a good relationship with the drivers and knows the employees well, but it's a small operation. He said written reprimands and suspensions are tough because he's attached to his employees.

Lacina asked Feldman to tell the Board about his most significant work accomplishments. Feldman said he has maintained a steady driver pool, even though the salary may not be great; he thinks it's the work environment they provide. He always comes in under the budget and is very successful at providing requested service.

Bolkcom asked Feldman what could people discover about his work in six months that they couldn't discover today given that an interview situation is somewhat limiting. Feldman said they will be pleased with the amount of effort he will put into a position, he said he was always offered a better position when he has left the 4 companies that he has worked for and he thinks they will be pleased with his time and effort.

Stutsman asked why Feldman felt that the SEATS Director position meets his career needs. Feldman said his number one career goal is to be happy in his job and he wants to stay in Iowa, and that there are financial considerations also.

Jordahl asked where Feldman saw himself in 5 years. Feldman said he wanted to be in para-transit related positions with better pay.

Duffy asked Feldman if there was anything he would like to express that they hadn't touched on. Feldman thanked them for the phone interview, and said he was familiar with the SEATS situation. Bolkcom told Feldman they may schedule second interviews. Feldman said he would have to give 3 week notice in his current position. Feldman ended the phone call.

Duffy commented that he stays on the job. Shramek said that he couldn't come in person to the interview because his Director had a death in the family. Stutsman said they had offered him the job once before and Feldman was disillusioned by the real estate market, so he declined to accept the position. Stutsman added the second time the Board interviewed, there was an illness in Feldman's family, and he withdrew his application. Shramek asked how the 60,000 ridership in Carroll compares with Johnson County. It was pointed out that Johnson County is at about 80,000. Johnson County Council of Governments Executive Director Jeff Davidson noted the system Feldman dealt with was probably less sophisticated than Johnson County SEATS and Feldman didn't have collective bargaining experience.

Recessed at 10:07 a.m.; reconvened at 10:24 a.m.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 10:24 a.m. to interview Richard Pitt under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Stutsman, second by Bolkcom, to leave Executive Session at 11:17 a.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 11:21 a.m. to interview Burnell Chadek for the position of SEATS Director and then review applicants under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Jordahl, to leave Executive Session at 1:15 p.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Lacina said in the past applicant Thomas Feldman had indicated a lot of interest in the community and he had interviewed well. Lacina said he would consider Feldman for a second interview. Jordahl noted Feldman doesn't have union experience in Carroll and Bolkcom said the rural background he had didn't fit Johnson County well. Stutsman agreed. Lacina noted there appears there are 3 supporting not including Feldman in the pool of applicants for a second interview.

Motion by Lacina, second by Duffy, to enter into Executive Session at 1:20 p.m. to review applicants for the SEATS Director position under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, "to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that individual requests a closed session." Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Motion by Lacina, second by Bolkcom, to leave Executive Session at 1:44 p.m. Roll call: aye: Bolkcom, Jordahl, Stutsman, Lacina, Duffy.

Bolkcom said the Board has reviewed the applicants and selected Greg Montour and Debbie Fuhrer for second interviews. He asked how the Board wanted to handle travel expenses for an out-of-state applicant. Davidson recommended offering mileage and letting an applicant pay the difference if choosing to fly. This was viewed as a good solution by the Board.

Recessed at 1:45 p.m.; reconvened at 8:37 p.m.

(Continued in Part 7)