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Oxford Commissioners Interview a Recruiting Firm Virtually

The Town of Oxford could have had the hiring of a new Town Manager completed months ago. All they had to do was engage a professional recruiting firm when former Town Manager Cheryl Lewis announced her retirement and the town would probably be on the verge of signing a qualified, professional replacement.

Instead, they allowed Lewis to do an ad on INDEED, collect responses, interview candidates, and then select one to present to the Commissioners. Tragically, the candidate she proposed had some very serious skeletons in his closet including indecent exposure to minors, a situation embarrassing to the town and an indictment of "in house" recruitment and hiring.

Now they are back to square one and are seemingly treading water.

The Commissioners have interviewed five recruiting firms now in order to find one which will bring them the best candidate possible with guarantees of no disastrous last-minute surprises.

Here are the videos of those interviews: (Each one is different despite same address)

Stream Video - Town Hall Streams

Stream Video - Town Hall Streams

Stream Video - Town Hall Streams

The interview questions from each of the Commissioners are fairly standard and covered the gamut of what the town needs to know in order to engage the best firm.

There is one question that was repeated over and over and that was regarding the "confidentiality" of the recruiting process. Several of the Commissioners and firms were concerned about the identities of applicants being confidential right up to the hiring. One recruiter said this is to keep the current employers of the applicants from knowing that their employee may be looking elsewhere for a job. This is supposedly to keep people from being fired for looking for a new job.

Several of the firms said that this is a concern of applicants and, if confidentiality is not guaranteed, will keep some from applying. While applicant identities can be confidential during the first round of interviews, this cannot be maintained once they are in serious consideration for the post.

First, if an applicant isn't ethical enough to inform their employer that they are on the short list for another job, I question their integrity and ethics. Most employers won't fire someone looking to better themselves, especially if the employee is up front with them. Certainly, "at will" employees can be fired for almost any reason other than discrimination or retribution. However, according to the site "EmpowerHR", it's not a good idea: Can You Terminate an Employee for Looking for Another Job? (empowerhr.com)

While it isn’t expressly prohibited by law, we wouldn’t recommend it. You might be surprised by how many of your employees are looking for other opportunities—either actively or passively—while still doing good work for your organization. 

Our advice? Instead of terminating this employee, you should consider talking with them to determine why they are looking for work elsewhere and what might motivate them to stay. See our recommendations below on what to do if your employee is looking for a new job.

It's not the standard in either private or public organizations to discourage people from looking for better or higher paying jobs. Many encourage their employees to be open about the process so they can use that information to improve their corporations and employees' compensation and working conditions.

It's also not the standard in high profile positions. For example, when the Talbot County Public Schools did a national search to find a Superintendent to replace retiring Superintendent Kelly Griffith, the names of the finalists for the job were published online and in the local newspaper prior to the final hiring. Here's what they posted:

Board of Education Announces Finalists for Superintendent of Schools - Talbot County Public Schools (tcps.k12.md.us)

This gave the public an opportunity to see who could be selected for such an important job, do research on the person, etc. All of these candidates had jobs in other school districts. In three cases, they returned to their previous district, no harm, no foul. The other candidate was hired by TCPS.

Another reason to keep the process open is the situation that occurred earlier this year in Oxford. If citizens had not done extensive background searches regarding the newly " hired" town manager Mr. Calvert, Oxford would have had a huge problem. The citizens want and need transparency because we have seen the damage that hiding information and people's identities can do.

Applicants can be confidential until they become a finalist, and then citizens have to know who the candidates are. It happens in many public hirings in Maryland and other states.

Here is a summary of the Maryland law on this issue:

In Maryland, there are several laws that protect the confidentiality and privacy of job applicants:

1. Job Applicant Fairness Act: This law generally prohibits employers from using a job applicant’s credit report to make decisions about hiring, termination, or conditions of employment¹.
2. User Name and Password Privacy Protection: Employers cannot request or require job applicants to disclose usernames, passwords, or other means of accessing personal accounts or services through electronic devices². This law also protects employees from being penalized for refusing to provide such information².
3. Ban the Box Law: Effective since February 29, 2020, this law prohibits employers with 15 or more full-time employees from asking about an applicant’s criminal record before the first in-person interview².
4. Maryland Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA): This act requires businesses to protect personal information, such as financial data, from unauthorized access or use³.
5. Health Information Act (HIA): This act protects the confidentiality of an individual’s health records and medical information³.
6. Pay Transparency Law: Effective October 1, 2024, this law requires employers to disclose wage ranges and a general description of benefits for all public or internal job postings⁴.

These laws aim to ensure that job applicants’ personal information remains confidential and is not misused during the hiring process. With the help of the town lawyer, Oxford can follow these laws and be transparent at the same time thus ensuring qualified candidates and public involvement.

It's time for the Commissioners to get the process moving toward hiring a competent and qualified Town Manager through a professional recruiting firm. We've already wasted five months with the flawed previous process and the holidays are coming when hiring a new manager will be difficult. Plus, town staff is not qualified to fulfill the duties of a manager, even on a limited interim basis. Recent events have proven that.

Let's stop treading water and move forward with action in this regard.

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