At the most recent Village Council, OPct. 19, were, from left, Council members Stephanie Pearce, Carmen Brown, Angie Hsu and Gavin DeVore Leonard. Senay Semere was absent. (Video still)
Village Council takes next steps in manager search process
- Published: November 2, 2026
Village Council is poised to take its next steps in finding a permanent Village manager.
At the group’s forthcoming meeting, Monday, Nov. 2, the group is expected to pass a resolution to contract with management consulting and administrative search firm Pracademic Partners, LLC, to conduct a manager search.
According to a proposal issued to Council earlier this month, Pracademic’s manager search process will take 10 to 12 weeks — longer if necessary — and will cost $24,500. That amount includes Pracademic’s professional services, recruitment advertising, background investigations, reference checks and additional due diligence.
The proposal recommends that an additional allowance of $2,500 is added to the fee for public engagement sessions involving finalist candidates. Council has repeatedly stated that the group wants to include local voices in the search process.
Based in New York, Pracademic has made more than 60 successful executive or administrative hirings across 14 states, including Oberlin, Ohio, which is politically and structurally similar to Yellow Springs, with a Council-manager form of government.
Pracademic’s typical search process follows this timeline:
• Weeks one to two are for gathering local data and information. From discussions with local leaders, the firm will develop a manager position profile, recruitment strategy, timeline and communication plan.
• Weeks two to three are for “pre-recruitment,” which entails the development of a recruitment brochure, placement plan and initial candidate outreach list.
• Weeks three to six involve advertising the job, reaching out to potential candidates, reviewing applications and conducting preliminary screens.
• Weeks six to eight are spent coordinating interviews between Village Council and manager candidates.
• The last two to four weeks will be spent finalizing a hire — conducting background investigations, verifying credentials and cementing an employment agreement and compensation.
At the last Village Council meeting, Oct. 19, the group decided by a vote of 3–1 to bring forward a resolution to contract with Pracademic; Council member Carmen Brown was the dissenting vote, and Council member Senay Semere was absent.
The decision before the group was to go with either Pracademic or Raftelis, a much larger executive recruitment firm based out of North Carolina, and with regional offices throughout the country; Pracademic has fewer than 10 staffers, whereas Raftelis has more than 200.
Raftelis’ proposal estimated a cost of around $50,000 for its recruitment services.
“I don’t feel too strongly about it,” Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard said of the choice between the two firms. “I think both would do a good job. We’re in the right category here, we’ll have a good partner regardless.”
Ahead of last week’s meeting, DeVore Leonard said he reached out to Village Council members in other communities who’ve worked with both firms. He said he was given positive references for both companies.
“But I do lean towards Pracademic,” he said. “The major benefit is they worked in a community that feels similar to ours, and they seem to really understand what we’re doing here.”
Council member Stephanie Pearce and Vice President Angie Hsu agreed.
Brown said she was skeptical of Pracademic’s diversity among the company’s staff, and said she believed that Raftelis had more people of color working for it.
In other Village Council news—
Hartlaub interim finance director
Continuing the trend of contracted services, Council approved a resolution at its Oct. 19 to hire Larry Hartlaub of the Shared Resource Center to work as the Village’s interim finance director.
Village solicitor Amy Blankenship reminded Council that the Village has tapped the Dayton-based Shared Resource Center for the last three years to help with its finances — some “day-to-day” work, but mostly with helping the finance director and Council put together the annual municipal budget.
Per the contract agreement, Hartlaud will be paid $175 per hour for his finance consulting work, $75 per hour for finance processing and analysis, and $95 per hour for payroll services.
Blankenship said it’s unclear exactly how many hours per week Hartlaub will work, but that it will taper down as time goes on.
“Within a month or two, [the Shared Resource Center] will be able to give us a very clear idea of how many hours,” she said. “The first month will be heavy as the work ramps up — but that ramp up will not be the same as it’d be for a community that was starting cold with the SRC. They already have an extensive amount of knowledge about how the Village’s finances operate.”
As evidence of this, the SRC helped Council pin down its 2027 budget last week; Council is expected to vote on the budget as an emergency ordinance at the group’s Nov. 2 meeting.
Some at last week’s meeting asked about the Village’s growing reliance on contracted services.
“With the position we were in, is this the best option for us right now?” Brown asked, referring to Michelle Robinson’s, the previous finance director, resignation earlier this month.
“Interim services are probably the only option,” Blankenship responded. “It’s the practice of a lot of communities more and more. Municipalities, townships and school districts are all going to this model. I’m not suggesting this is what Council should do in the future, but it is becoming more prevalent.”
She added: “In the 20 years I’ve been practicing law in the municipal field, it’s the hardest it’s been to fill these roles. It’s a tough time to serve in the public sector.”
Next phases of Spring Meadows
By a unanimous vote of 4-0, Council approved a resolution that authorizes Interim Village Manager Jeff Sheridan to execute a subdivider’s agreement with Enon Road Project I, LLC — a subordinate organization of Miamisburg-based real estate developer DDC Management — for phases three and four of the ongoing Spring Meadows subdivision build.
Phases one and two entailed the construction and platting of 90 single-family homes.
Per the preliminary plat application, which Planning Commission approved last fall, phases three and four entail the construction of 190 additional dwelling units on 28 acres adjacent to the first phases. 120 of those units will be attached single-family units — 12 condos with 10 dwelling units in each — and the remaining 70 units will be detached single-family homes.
The subdivider’s agreement that Council approved outlines the Village’s and Enon Road Project I, LLC’s respective responsibilities during the time of construction — namely the installation of infrastructure that will ultimately be inspected by and accepted by the Village prior to Council’s approval of the final plat plans.
Planning Commission is expected to review the final plat plan for phase three at the group’s Nov. 10 meeting, which will then pass the buck to Council at a later date.
The final plat for phase four is expected to be submitted in October 2027.
In total, Enon Road Project I, LLC is expected to make around $2.3 million in public improvements to the site — that includes stormwater basins, roads, curbs, gutters, bike racks and sidewalks within and around the subdivision.
The next regular Village Council meeting will be Monday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. in the John Bryan Community Center. An executive session beginning at 4:30 p.m. will precede the open session.
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