HomeMy WebLinkAbout1754 - MINUTES - City Commission MINUTES
DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION
WORKSHOP MEETING
S OCTOBER 5, 2001
1. Call to order
Mayor Flury opened the meeting at 4:30 p.m.
2. Roll Call:
Present:
Mayor: Pat Flury
Vice-Mayor: Robert Chunn
Commissioners: John Bertino
C.K. McElyea
Bob Mikes
City Attorney: Tom Ansbro
Acting City Manager: Dave Keller
Acting City Clerk: Charlene Johnson
Mayor Flury explained that introductions would not be needed since both candidates were well known
to the City Commission and public.
CITY MANAGER INTERVIEWS:
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. — Ivan Pato (Texas A&I University-2 years in mechanical engineering- BCC-1
year business administration- BSO Deputy)
Ivan Pato explained that he applied for the position of city manager based on strong encouragement
from the community and employees as well as his knowledge about the City over the past 12 years as
BSO Deputy. Mr. Pato was of the opinion that the City's image had unfairly suffered over the years and
that the public's perception of the City would need to be addressed. He stated that he would encourage
team effort towards increasing employee productivity and that his 30 years of hands-on executive and
administrative experience on the corporate and private levels would be beneficial in the position. Mr.
Pato was confident in the area of leadership, people skills, maturity, management style, hiring and firing
employees, and negotiating union contracts. Mr. Pato advised that he was weak in the area of land use
and development and agreed that he would need assistance in those areas.
Vice-Mayor Chunn was concerned with discrepancies on Mr. Pato's resume and was dissatisfied that
Mr. Pato had not submitted his resume for the position by the August 23d deadline date as was
expected of the other applicants. Mr. Pato apologized for stating on his resume that he served as Vice-
President for Ampex Corporation in 1975 when his official position was National Sales Manager even
though he performed the duties of vice-president at the time that the company was experiencing
financial difficulties.
Commissioner Mikes expressed his concern that Mr. Pato would be lacking in credibility should he be
selected for city manager based on the qualifications of the other candidates who all have earned
Master Degrees. Mr. Pato agreed that he would have to earn his credibility right from the beginning
and pointed out that there are many individuals who have been successful in life without having
. MINUTES 1 OCTOBER 5, 2001
WORKSHOP MEETING
attained a formal degree. In addition, there have been individuals with degrees who have not been
effective in their jobs.
The City Commission continued with a question and answer period with the candidate.
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. — Jason Nunemaker. (Doctoral candidate in Public Administration with a
concentration in policy analysis and program evaluation. Dissertation draft title, "The Evolving Roles of
Public Administration: An Analysis of the Contemporary Roles of Municipal and County Managers in the
State of Florida".
Jason Nunemaker explained that he moved to Florida to work on his Ph.D. at Florida Atlantic University
six years ago and that he began employment with Dania Beach on an Internship basis, which followed
into a position of Assistant to the City Manager, Assistant City Manager and currently Acting City
Manager. If given the opportunity as City Manager, Mr. Nunemaker expressed a desire to establish a
formal review process for department directors to discuss strengths and weaknesses and develop a
better rapport with the City Commission and obtain a clearer understanding of what they expect of him
in the position. Mr. Nunemaker mentioned that he enjoys the pressures that come with the job of city
manager and understands the time involved with taking on the responsibility. He stressed the
importance of establishing trust as an essential element in working between the City Commission and
staff members and was confident that his energy and eagerness for the City to progress would be
beneficial. Mr. Nunemaker agreed that he is not strong in the Personnel Management area, but was
confident that he could obtain the additional experience level required of the position. In regards to
budgeting, he would prepare a plan over a course of the next few years to outline a strategy on
increasing reserves to a more appropriate level of 10% of the budget.
Given the fact that Jason Nunemaker was well known to the City Commission, a short question and
answer period was conducted.
• Mayor Flury advised that she is looking for strong leadership, solid financial performance, solid
management skills, courage and honesty, and the ability to make changes in considering the person for
the city manager job.
Commissioner Mikes stated that a city manager job is one of the most difficult positions to hold, that the
person must be unique and be a proven success in similar sectors, and that education is definitely a
base to build upon. Commissioner Mikes commended Jason for his efforts as Acting City Manager and
was confident that Jason would have a very good future ahead no matter what the City Commission
decided.
Jason Nunemaker thanked the City Commission for being given the opportunity to serve the City and to
have gained the experience provided to him over the past 6 months.
4. ADJOURNMENT -This meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.
PAT FLURY, MAYOR
4 ES :
CHARLENE J H SON
CITY CLERK
Approved on: October 23, 2001
MINUTES 2 OCTOBER 5, 2001
WORKSHOP MEETING