City manager won’t say how much of our money he’s paid Bob Slavin, an executive headhunter
Albany City Manager Alfred Lott is balking at a request to reveal how much money the city has paid an executive headhunter who helped Lott get his job two years ago.
Since the City Commission paid Bob Slavin of Norcross to recruit and help hire a city manager in 2005, taxpayers have paid Slavin another tens of thousands of dollars to help Lott make some of his key hires.
The expenditures are unnecessary; the city has professional staff who are trained and otherwise more than able to find job candidates.
Among Lott’s Slavin-assisted hires are three notable out-of-towners: Police Chief James Younger, who has performed awfully, combatively and secretly – yet gets rave reviews from Lott, Mayor Willie Adams and City Commissioner Tommie Postell; Civic Center Director John Mazzola, who is adhering to Lott’s mandate to manage the arena with no regard for arts, culture and economic development; and Robert Jones – who was such a poor hire as finance director that Lott, to his credit, ran Jones out of town in four months after mysteriously giving him a month’s severance pay.
While it’s said that payback can be hell; it can also be lucrative. Just how much of Albany taxpayers’ money has Slavin put in the bank? Lott wouldn’t say this week – even though Georgia’s law requires him to. Last year, the Herald reviewed records that showed that Slavin had received more than $30,000 and counting.
Indeed, Albany’s city government chief responded to The Albany Journal’s most recent request for information by seeking to find a way around providing the information.
The Journal requested of Lott: “Please list the tasks performed by Bob Slavin and the amount of money paid for each task – or (provide access to the records) that provides this information.”
Lott responded to the request by e-mailing the assistant city attorney, Kathy Strang, with this query: “I don’t think the law requires us to manufacture lists that are not in existence? Correct?”
The Journal responded to Lott: “You are correct. (We) thought that exercise might be a lot easier than having someone compile the public records, for my review, that collectively provide the information (we’re) seeking.”
Lott must not be too excited about fulfilling the request: As of Wednesday, the Journal had neither received a reply from Lott nor the records it requested.
Before Lott was hired, the city used a headhunter’s services only once since 1994; that was in 2004, to help hire an assistant city manager who ultimately would replace Janice Allen Jackson, who was forced from office by the City Commission after Willie Adams was elected mayor.
Instead, under Ms. Jackson, the city’s human resources department performed all of the recruiting functions for the city.
Slavin, who has clients throughout the country, carries some baggage. Columbus, Ga.’s human resources manager says Slavin used flawed methodology when he put together a pay classification plan for that community’s consolidated government. Also, the Naples (Fla.) Daily news reported recently that a woman alleges that Slavin had inaccurate information in a report that he provided to a report to one of his municipal clients.
