St. Paul Mayor-elect Melvin Carter began interviewing candidates to lead 10 city departments more than a week ago, but his transition team has yet to make their names public.

Carter announced in late November that in the spirit of transparency and community involvement, his transition team would assemble 10 hiring panels to screen resumes and applications from candidates for key cabinet-level positions, such as Public Works director and Parks and Recreation director.

His transition team later released the names of 99 of the 101 civic leaders, city employees, business owners and residents who served on the hiring panels, but the mayor-elect has yet to make public their slate of 28 recommendations.

Under state law, the identities of candidates for public employment become public information when they are selected for interviews with an “appointing authority,” or the person who will determine if they’re hired for the job. That person is Carter, who began interviewing finalists Dec. 21 and 22 and resumed interviews Wednesday.

“He’s the ‘appointing authority,’ ” said Don Gemberling, an attorney and board member with the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information who spent more than 30 years with the state’s Department of Administration.

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How Mayor Carter’s proposed budget will impact libraries, Fire Dept., Public Works The Pioneer Press has repeatedly inquired about the names of recommended candidates since Dec. 20, but the Carter transition team has declined to release their identities given that additional candidates may yet be called in for interviews and the current list may be incomplete.

Public records advocates say Carter’s decision runs counter to the spirit of the previously announced hiring process, which included public postings for the openings on a government jobs board.

Applications were accepted through Toni Newborn, a staffer in the city’s Department of Human Resources. On Nov. 27, the Carter transition team announced in a written statement that “this open, transparent process marks a significant break from the insider decision-making process that too often formed transition processes in past decades.”

MINNESOTA STATUTES 13.43 PERSONNEL DATA

Subd. 3. Applicant data: Except for applicants described in subdivision 5, the following personnel data on current and former applicants for employment by a government entity is public: veteran status; relevant test scores; rank on eligible list; job history; education and training; and work availability. Names of applicants shall be private data except when certified as eligible for appointment to a vacancy or when applicants are considered by the appointing authority to be finalists for a position in public employment. For purposes of this subdivision, “finalist” means an individual who is selected to be interviewed by the appointing authority prior to selection.

“As long as this is being done under government auspices, (state law is) very clear,” open records advocate Rich Neumeister said. “Even though he’s not the mayor yet, if the city is saying that we now have finalists for the mayor-elect to select, it should be public.”

INCOMING DEPUTY DEFENDS DECISION

This week, incoming Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher defended the decision to withhold the names, noting the number of finalists is in flux, as Carter has reserved the right to interview applicants who were not recommended by the panels. The goal remains to extend job offers and receive acceptances by the time Carter is sworn into office on Jan. 2.

She said she was unaware of any precedent for revealing the identities of prospective department leaders during a mayoral transition.

“I think we have done a really good job of being open and inclusive in this process,” said Tincher on Wednesday. “Melvin is doing interviews all day today. At the point where we asked them to come in for an interview, there were people who said ‘No, I’m going to take my name out.’ That was the logistics. There weren’t 28 finalists. Some people said ‘I change my mind.’ ”

“I’m a big fan of the process that we did,” she added. “I don’t think it’s perfect. (But) I wanted it to be a process where a lot of candidates felt like ‘Hey, I have a shot.’ ”

BREAK WITH THE PAST?

After Chris Coleman won his first election to the mayor’s office in November 2005, his administration released the identities of 25 top staffers — department directors, policy associates and administration coordinators — on Dec. 29 of that year. Some had been announced even earlier.

In an announcement that even took sitting department directors off guard, Carter has said his hiring process would rely on more input from the public.

“To build a St. Paul that works for all of us, City Hall must reflect and respond to everyone who calls our city home,” said Carter in the Nov. 27 written statement. “This new community hiring effort delivers on the change that St. Paul residents are seeking. I encourage all interested candidates to submit their resumes for consideration as we begin building a city that works better for all of us.”

The application deadline was set at the time for Dec. 7. On Dec. 8, however, the transition team announced that deadlines had been extended for 5 of the 10 openings.

The new application deadline became Dec. 11 for the positions of library director, public works director, financial services director and director of planning and economic development. In addition, according to announcement, “in order to ensure continuity for public safety planning through Super Bowl LII, applications for the position of Emergency Management Director will be accepted until February 28, 2018.”

The 10 community hiring panels gathered in early December to read through resumes and applications and choose 57 candidates for interviews. The panels met privately with the candidates on Dec. 18 and 19 at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and then further narrowed the field by half.

Carter began conducting his own interviews two days later and resumed them Wednesday.