City Council Meeting Date: July 7, 2026
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Risi Karim, Assistant City Administrator
Title
Consider Approval of Service Agreement with EverStrive Solutions for City Administrator Performance Evaluation Facilitation.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council approves the service agreement with EverStrive Solutions to facilitate the 2026 City Administrator Performance Evaluation.
Summary Report:
The City of Northfield has an established policy and process for conducting an annual performance evaluation of the City Administrator. As part of that process, the City engages an outside facilitator to ensure the evaluation is conducted in a manner that is independent, confidential, and consistent with adopted policy.
To identify a qualified facilitator for the 2026 evaluation cycle, the City contacted the League of Minnesota Cities for recommendations and subsequently requested proposals from four firms: Employee Strategies, EverStrive Solutions, Ethical Leaders in Action, and Martin-McAllister. The Council Employment Policy Committee met on June 1, 2026 to review and discuss the proposals received.
Following that review, the Committee recommended moving forward with EverStrive Solutions, represented by Lauren Palmer, based on the following factors:
* Ability to conduct the full evaluation process as outlined in the City's policy
* Capacity to maintain an independent and confidential review process
* Competitive cost of $7,500, representing a savings of $1,000 compared to the $8,500 the City previously paid for comparable facilitation services
Staff recommends approval of the service agreement with Lauren Palmer of EverStrive Solutions in the amount of $7,500 and requests authorization for the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the City.
Alternative Options:
None recommended.
Financial Impacts:
$7,500- Funds for this expenditure are included in the adopted 2026 budget
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