Mount Prospect spending $18,000 on search for new village manager

Mount Prospect is turning to a firm headed by a former village manager to find a successor to former village Manager Michael Janonis.

On Tuesday, the village board approved hiring GovHR USA, based in Northbrook. The village will pay the firm $18,000, including a $12,000 recruitment fee, $4,000 in recruitment expenses and $2,000 in advertising costs.

The firm's president is Heidi Voorhees, who was Wilmette's village manager from 1990 to 2001. Since leaving, she also has been teaching in programs at Northwestern University as well as at the Executive Management Program.

“We had our HR (human resources) folks canvass a lot of people who have done these searches before, to see which names jumped up to the top, and this one consistently did,” Mayor Arlene Juracek said after the meeting.

“The advantage is Heidi Voorhees, the head of the firm, has experience as a village manager in the Northwest suburbs and quite a bit of experience in looking for village manager candidates.”

Voorhees' firm has led more than 220 recruitments, including for village manager in Arlington Heights, Glencoe and Skokie.

Juracek expects the process to take about three months, with the public getting a chance to meet the final candidates before a choice is made. “You need to have a good community fit, too. You want to see how people react when they get questions from the community,” she said.

The firm will conduct interviews of Mount Prospect officials and staff; identify, screening, interview and evaluating candidates; and recommend finalists to the board, including background and reference checks.