Details of Bozeman’s contract with hiring practice investigator

The investigation into Bozeman's hiring practices will cost at most $10,000, according to a memo included with other documents for the city commission's July 27 meeting. The money will go to consultant Michelle Puiggari, who will charge the city $80 per hour for her time spent investigating and $30 per hour for travel.

According to the memo, written by City Attorney Greg Sullivan, "Ms. Puiggari does not expect, at this time, to accrue charges approaching that amount."

The meeting documents packet includes a draft of a contract between the city and Puiggari. According to the contract, Puiggari will need to conduct interviews with all City of Bozeman employees and any other person she deems necessary "to determine whether statements made by employees before the City Commission on June 22, 2009 contained any false or misleading statements" and whether those statements were made "with knowledge of their falsity or misleading nature."

This refers to the accusations received by the city in an e-mail sent June 25, in which a city employee said the commission was misled when it was informed about the city's hiring practices. The city has not given the name of the employee who sent the e-mail, citing privacy concerns.

Puiggari will also investigate:

• whether background checks conducted on job applicants were really voluntary
• the reasons and rationale for the use of waivers and consent forms for interviewees
• the specifics of the practice of reviewing applicants' social networking sites
• the details of log-in information acquired from applicants
• whether applicants had any reservations about signing the waiver and consent forms

Puiggari will be required to write a report containing her findings for the city commission. That report will not be given out to anyone other than the commissioners without the commission's approval.

The report, the contract states, "may be released to the public after portions are redacted, if required, ... to protect the privacy interests of any individual giving information or about whom information is given."

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3. Bozeman police officer resigns over comments he made on Facebook
4. A look at a few tips Bozeman gives its job applicants
5. Bozeman police officer apologizes for his Facebook remarks