City Council Agenda and Packet 2017 08 29 SP

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City of Louisville 2 Focus Group Project — New City Manager Search - August 2017 that summer vacations might have been in progress, time needed for the preparation and start of school, low interest, and/or simply not seeing the communications in a timely manner were among some of the reasons we discussed. In any case, the people who did take the time to attend were thoughtful and provided excellent feedback. It should be noted that staff and citizens were pleased that Council was seeking input as part of their decision making process. They were delighted to be asked to participate and spoke freely while sharing their opinions. During the focus group sessions, all groups were asked the same five questions (See APPENDIX B for the full list of interview questions). External, non -staff groups were asked an additional question — "Tell me about your knowledge of what a City Manager does?"The answers to this question helped Ramos as facilitator to gauge the knowledge of the group about the role and responsibilities of a City Manager. In most cases, there was a consensus that indicated the key differentiator of the manager is to implement and to operationalize the policy guidance of the City Council through his/her staff. In some cases, residents were unclear about the role and responsibilities of a manger. However, asking that question also served to keep the dialogue focused on the true role of a manager and what she/he controls, versus what she/he can influence with Council as it directly relates to policy. A reminder: The purpose of a focus group is to solicit a variety of opinions on a given topic. The goal is NOT to obtain consensus of the group. In some cases participants had strong general agreement (as seen from the prioritized characteristics); in other cases, there was disagreement. Again the goal is to hear from all and extract the common patterns, trends, and themes. 5