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Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Continues Search for New IT Leader

Cuyahoga County’s Board of Control on Monday put on hold plans to hire Arizona-based search firm Municipal Solutions LLC to find candidates for top positions within its HR and IT departments.

(TNS) — The Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Board of Control on Monday put on hold plans to hire Arizona-based search firm Municipal Solutions LLC to find candidates for top positions in the Human Resources and Information Technology departments.

The decision to delay consideration of a contract worth up to $49,000 came after Director of Employee Resources Pat Smock told the board that the county would only use Municipal Solutions after exhausting internal methods of filling the posts.

County Executive Armond Budish’s administration is looking for a new chief information officer and a chief human resources officer to oversee departments that have been touched by an ongoing criminal investigation.

Council representative Trevor McAleer, who serves on the Board of Control as an alternate for Council President Dan Brady, requested that the vote be delayed until council receives answers about how internal search efforts work.

McAleer also suggested the Board of Control re-consider the search firm contract only after the county’s internal efforts have been exhausted.

Council members Dale Miller and Nan Baker, also voting members of the board, questioned the need for a national search given that the county can’t award moving expenses or other bonuses to lure candidates to Ohio.

Baker also raised concerns about using a search firm outside of Ohio, and whether the county should focus on candidates within the state.

Smock told the board that he was unsure if location was considered in picking Municipal Solutions as the search firm. He also said the IT chief position has been advertised for six months and the county has not yet been able to fill the vacancy.

The last time the county hired Municipal Solutions for a nationwide search was last year, when the county was seeking a candidate for sheriff. That search was restricted to mostly local candidates after the county determined it was subject to an Ohio law requiring sheriffs to live in the county where they serve prior to becoming sheriff.

The former information technology chief, Scot Rourke, was placed on leave in February 2018 after he was named in subpoenas in the ongoing county criminal probe. The administration of County Executive Armond Budish fired Rourke in October 2019 after council members raised questions about his employment status. Rourke has not been charged in the prove.

Former human resources chief Douglas Dykes, who is accused of felony theft in office and other charges, resigned Jan. 27. The resignation happened days after it came to light that Dykes had quietly repaid the county more than $10,000 he is accused of stealing.

©2020 The Plain Dealer, Cleveland. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.