Josh Jones, 39, was sworn in this week to serve on the Fort Scott City Commission, replacing Jolynne Mitchel, who resigned.

Jones was born and raised in Fort Scott and has several businesses in the community.

Jones believes it’s a cumulation of life lessons learned that give him the experience and qualities to serve on the commission.

“I have made many mistakes in life but find a way to learn and grow with each mistake,” Jones said. ” My favorite quote is ‘Show me a man who never made a mistake and I will show you one who never tried anything.’”

“We have to understand we will make mistakes but how you learn and grow from those mistakes is what we need to focus on,” he said.

“I have always told my children if you want to come to me to complain about something, then you better follow it up with a solution to try,” he said.  “I feel like Fort Scott is in a period where we need some new ideas to continue to move forward and I felt like I wanted to help any way I could and felt like being a commissioner was a good way to bring solutions or ideas to concerns I had.”

“My duty as a commissioner is to serve the citizens of Fort Scott the best way I think is possible,” Jones said.  “Every decision we make comes back to one thing. Citizens.”

Jones said he has ideas about the future of Fort Scott.

“However I am one of five commissioners and I feel like it’s not about my ideas but rather about the ideas of the five of us as a whole,” he said. “I look forward to getting into the mentality that the five of us are a team and the new things on the horizons will be a collaborative effort from all of us.”

The community may wonder why the Fort Scott City Commission selected Managment Partner’s Jeff Hancock as the new interim city manager.

The city provided fortscott.biz with the contract made with Hancock. See the prior story https://fortscott.biz/news/city-signs-on-interim-city-manager

Under the scope of services section in the contract with Management Partners mention was made of a letter of proposal to the city on Nov. 10, 2020.

Fort Scott Human Resource Director Deb Needleman provided the proposal letter, below.

November 10, 2020

Deb Needleman, SPHR, IPMA-SCP

Director of Human Resources

City of Fort Scott

123 S. Main Street

Fort Scott, KS 66701

Dear Ms. Needleman:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a proposal to provide interim city manager services to the City of Fort Scott. Management Partners has the expertise and skills necessary to provide this interim assistance and we would be pleased to do so. Before we tell you about our approach and the consultant we propose for this effort, we would like to share some brief information about our firm.

About Management Partners

Management Partners was founded in 1994 with a specific mission to help local government leaders improve their service to the public. We are a national consulting firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Management Partners has a well-established track record of helping public sector organizations throughout the United States, including all of the services provided by cities, counties, towns and special districts at the local level.

During our 26 years of service, we have earned a national reputation by delivering quality, actionable work products to our clients. We bring extensive experience to this project, along with first-hand knowledge of local government operations. We are distinguished by the fact that each team we assign is led and staffed by associates who have actual experience in direct public service and experience working together as a team. The work we do is not an academic exercise; it is grounded in the real world of customer service and accomplishment in the public sector. As a result, we have a bias for producing value-added work for each client that will be actionable and will be implemented.

The firm is staffed with about 100 professionals who are experienced public service managers as well as qualified management consultants. This group includes generalists as well as subject-matter experts. Our consultants have years of experience working in all aspects of local government management and have built a track record of extraordinary quality service for our clients.

The firm has extensive experience helping improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of local government services. We have completed organizational staffing and improvement projects in virtually every type of local government service, including reviews of entire governments as well as selected studies of individual departments and functional activities.

Management Partners’ services include everything required to support a local government leader, elected or appointed. Our full range of services includes the following:

• Organizational Analysis and Performance Audits – Also called efficiency studies and organizational reviews, identifies improvements to an operation’s efficiency and effectiveness.
• Performance Management – Encompasses a wide range of management tools that can be and often are developed independently of one another, including performance management and measurement, process management, performance budgeting, employee performance evaluation and strategic and process benchmarking.
• Process Improvement – Examines the processes by which customers are served, an important technique for developing a program for operations improvement, including process mapping.
• Strategic and Business Planning – Can be an important tool for focusing the efforts of an organization and fostering communication between leaders, staff and important stakeholder groups.
• Financial Planning, Budgeting and Analysis – Assists clients in analyzing their finances and planning for the effective and efficient use of taxpayer or customer dollars.
• Organizational Development and Training – Helps clients develop organizational capacity, a key to developing high performance organizations. Services include executive coaching, customer service training, employee and customer surveys and conflict management workshops.
• Sharing and Consolidation of Services – Offers a more efficient way to provide services, particularly on a regional basis. Options range from the complete integration of previously separate jurisdictions to sharing or consolidating the management of individually delivered services and operations.
• Interim Management – Assists government leaders by providing executive staff during transitional periods. Rather than just “treading water,” our approach to interim management combines continuation services along with organizational effectiveness analysis to provide a solid foundation for a new permanent employee.
• Executive Recruitment – Identifies top candidates for chief executive officer positions and department director level jobs in local governments.

We offer a balance of perspectives with a practitioner’s bias and a proven track record of successful consulting engagements. This experience gives us a sensitivity that produces positive outcomes. Each of our projects is individually tailored to the unique needs of the client. We have a deep understanding of the service environment of local government and we are proud to say that as a result of our quality work, many of our clients ask us to complete subsequent assignments.

Understanding of the Engagement

We understand you have need for interim city manager services, and possible help recruiting a new permanent city manager. One of our consultants, J. Jeff Hancock, is based in Missouri. He has many years of experience as a city manager/administrator in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. We are proposing that Jeff would provide the interim services and assist with recruitment, if desired. He could begin providing interim services to the City in November on a date to be mutually determined. He is available to serve in this capacity for approximately four months. His brief qualifications are attached.

Jeff would work for and at the direction of Management Partners, while providing the full city manager service you need on an interim basis. Management Partners will provide all insurance, training, and administrative support (including company equipment) as necessary during the assignment. Our commitment is to provide continuous and seamless management services to you during this transition period.

Management Partners will provide interim management consulting services on a monthly basis at a cost of $6,000 per month inclusive of all expenses In addition to Jeff Hancock, Management Partners has other consultants available to provide assistance to Fort Scott, as needed and requested.

We are enclosing a draft contract for your review, and await further direction from you.

We appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance to Fort Scott. Please feel free to contact either myself at 805-320-1702 if you have any questions about this proposal.

Sincerely,

Andrew S. Belknap

Senior Vice President

Attachment

J. Jeff Hancock, Special Advisor

• Professional manager with 45-year local government career that includes serving as city manager/administrator in seven different cities.
• Has also served as interim city administrator, assistant city manager, budget officer and manager of economic development; cities served range from 7,700 to 495,000, mostly in Missouri

• Functions supervised include financial management, human resources, marketing, strategic planning, economic development, airport construction and management, capital improvements, fire, parks and recreation, community services to meet the delivery goals of efficient and effective service.

• Active leadership in community and regional economic development efforts.
• Life member of ICMA and Missouri City Management Association; former president of MCMA and Central Missouri Development Corporation and board member of the Missouri Municipal League; active in Lake of the Ozarks Council of Governments, Lake of the Ozarks Regional Economic Development Council, Johnson County Economic Development Corporation.
• Recognized with the 2009 Missouri Municipal League’s Innovation Award and the 2005 Missouri City Manager Award.

On November 17, 2020 the City of Fort Scott agreed to hire Jeff Hancock, Camdenton, MO with Management Partners, Inc. as interim city manager, according to the contract shown below.

Management Partners, Inc. is an organization that provides interim managers, Fort Scott  Human Resource Director Deb Needleman said in an email interview. The commissioners were the ones who contacted Management Partners, she said.

The hiring follows the retirement of former city manager Dave Martin in October, 2020.

Hancock’s employment will be for four months (120 days) and may be extended by the city with 15 days written notice prior to the expiration of the initial 4-month term, according to the contract.

Hancock will assist in providing personnel to handle responsibilities as interim city manager.

He will be allowed to establish an appropriate work schedule to meet the needs of the City of Fort Scott.

That work schedule will include, in general, 24 hours worked by Hancock on a weekly basis, with three days on-site in the city.

The compensation is $5,500.00 a month.

To view the entire contract see below:

THIS AGREEMENT, made this 17th day of November, 2020, by and between the City of Fort Scott, Kansas, (hereinafter referred to as the “City”), and Management Partners, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as “Partners”).

RECITALS

WHEREAS, the City wants to obtain interim city manager services, and

WHEREAS, Partners has the ability to provide such services to the City; and

WHEREAS, City desires to engage Partners to assist in providing personnel appropriate to handle responsibilities as interim City Manager for the City. Such interim personnel shall be given all authority to act as the City Manager under state law, or applicable city policies, in addition to any power specifically granted by the Mayor or City Commission to the City Manager. The parties agree that J. Jeff Hancock (“contractor”) shall handle these duties during the term of this Agreement. and Partners is willing to provide such services.

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and mutual obligations herein, the parties hereto do mutually agree as follows:

1. Scope of services. Partners shall assist the City by executing the project described in the proposal submitted dated November 10, 2020 , which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as Exhibit A, in a satisfactory and proper manner in accordance with direction provided by the City Commission or their designee.

1. 1. Time of Performance. Services of Partners shall be available upon receipt of an approved copy of this Agreement and shall commence on or around November 17, 2020. Services rendered to City by Partners shall be for four months (120 days) and may be extended by the City with 15 days written notice prior to the expiration of the initial 4-month term.

1.2 Compensation and Method of Payment.

Contractor shall be compensated for services rendered to the City of Fort Scott, Kansas pursuant to this agreement in the following manner:

A. The City of Fort Scott understands that the contractor shall be allowed to establish an appropriate work schedule and that the schedule shall be appropriate to the needs of the City of Fort Scott provided that such work schedule shall include, in general, 24 hours worked by the contractor on a weekly basis, with three days on site in the City. The City of Fort Scott shall allow the contractor to faithfully perform his or her assigned duties and responsibilities.

B. In consideration of above Section A, City shall compensate Partners a fee of $5,500.00 a month.

2. City Responsibilities. City agrees to furnish the assigned contractor all information required to perform services under this Agreement including access to all records of the City. J Jeff Hancock, the assigned contractor, acknowledges that as Interim City Manager, he is subject to all confidentiality requirements of applicable law.

3. Independent Partners. Neither Partners nor its employees are considered to be employees of the City of Fort Scott, Kansas, for any purpose whatsoever. Partners is an independent contractor in the performance of the services herein described.
4. Personnel. Partners represents that it has, or will secure at its own expense, all personnel required in performing all of the services required under this Agreement. Such personnel shall not be employees of or have any contractual relationships with the City. All the services required hereunder will be performed by Partners or under its supervision and all personnel engaged in the work shall be fully qualified and shall be authorized or permitted under state and local law to perform such services.
5. Discrimination Prohibited. In performing the services required hereunder, the Partners shall not discriminate against any person on the basis or race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, age, physical handicap, or disability as defined in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, as now enacted or hereafter emended.
6. Reports and Information. At such times and in such forms as the City may require, there shall be furnished to the City such statements, records, reports, data, and information, as the City may request pertaining to matters covered by this Agreement. Unless authorized by the City, the Partners will not release any information concerning the work product including any reports or other documents prepared pursuant to this Agreement until the final product is submitted to the City.
7. Establishment and Maintenance of Records. Records shall be maintained by the Partners in accordance with applicable law and requirements prescribed by the City with respect to all matters covered by this Agreement. Except as otherwise authorized by the City, such records shall be maintained for a period of three (3) years after receipt of final payment under this Agreement.
8. Assignability. Partners shall not assign any interest in this Agreement and shall not transfer any interest in this Agreement (whether by assignment or novation), without the prior written consent of the City thereto.
9. Termination for Convenience of City. The City may terminate this Agreement at any time by giving at least fifteen (15) days’ notice in writing to Partners. If Partners is terminated by the City as provided herein, Partners will be paid for the services actually performed to the time of termination.
10. Insurance and Indemnity.

10.1 The parties agree that the assigned contractor(s) will be serving in the capacity of a public official for the City, and shall be entitled to all the immunities, privileges and protections of that status as set forth by applicable law. City agrees, to the extent allowed by law, to hold Partners and its assigned contractor harmless from any and all claims, actions and damages, including a reasonable attorney fee, resulting from performance of Partners’ services under this Agreement, except for (i) any dishonest, fraudulent, criminal, willful, wanton, intentional or malicious act or course of conduct of the assigned contractor; (ii) any act or course of conduct of the assigned contractor which is not performed on behalf of the City; (iii) any act or course of conduct which is outside the scope of contractor’s service with the City; (iv) any lawsuit brought against assigned contractor or against Partners by the City; (v) any act or omission contrary to or not in furtherance of any adopted city ordinance or policy; or (vi) workers compensation claims, which are covered in a different manner and subject to the provisions of the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Act, K.S.A. 44-501 et seq..

10.2 City recognizes and agrees that all persons assigned by Partners are independent contractors, and not the personnel of Partners. City agrees to hold Partners harmless from all claims it may hereafter have by virtue of any action of the contractor assigned by Partners to City unless Partners, through its own actions or omissions, is wholly or in part at fault.

3. Construction and Severability. If any part of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such holding will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part of this Agreement so long as the remainder of the Agreement is reasonably capable of completion.
4. Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties and supersedes any and all other agreements or understandings, oral or written, whether previous to the execution hereof or contemporaneous herewith.
5. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Kansas, and the laws, rules, and regulations of the City of Fort Scott.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City and Partners have executed this Agreement as of the date first above written.