Headhunter wants $33,000 to find replacement for retiring city CAO

City councillors will be asked Monday to retain Toronto-based Feldman Daxon Partners Inc. as executive search consultants to find a replacement for Malcolm White, the city's chief administrative officer.

The recruiting firm asked for $33,000 to do the job.

Its fee was third-lowest among a dozen proposals received by the city.

"They propose a candidate search that will result in an appointment of a new CAO by December of 2023 or January of 2024, which is in line with the anticipated retirement date of CAO White," says Mayor Matthew Shoemaker, who chaired a meeting the CAO selection committee last Friday.

"While not the determinative factor in recommending them, their fee was the third lowest of the 12 proposals," Shoemaker says in a report prepared for Monday's city council meeting.

"The average proposed fee within the 12 proposals was $44,500," he said.

Using a scoring matrix, the proposals were evaluated by the city clerk, deputy city clerk, manager of purchasing and director of human resources.

They were also evaluated by the CAO selection committee.

"Feldman Daxon ranked highly on the scoring matrix of each individual that reviewed the proposals," the mayor said.

White announced in May that he expects to retire on Jan. 31, 2024.

Monday's city council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 5 p.m.