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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-13 Workshop Meeting Minutes City Manager Candidate Recommendations MINUTES OF WORKSHOP DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018 - 1:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Mayor James called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. Present: Mayor: Tamara James Vice-Mayor: Bill Harris Commissioners: Chickie Brandimarte Bobbie H. Grace Marco A. Salvino, Sr. City Attorney: Thomas J. Ansbro City Clerk: Thomas Schneider 2. Presentation of City Manager Candidate Recommendations by Renee Narloch, S. Renee Narloch&Associates Renee Narloch, of the search firm S. Renee Narloch & Associates, noted she will present her recommendations today and interviews are scheduled for June 25, 2018. There were 35 applications and she will present five candidate recommendations at this meeting. Ms.Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Howard Brown, City Manager of Bell, California. Commissioner Grace noted Mr. Brown's salary and that he was at Lauderdale Lakes, which had a lot of problems. She questioned the role he played in that. Also, he was Assistant City Manager of Opa-locka, which is in complete turmoil. She asked if he shared any of this with Ms. Narloch. Ms. Narloch noted he had discussed this with her; he has gone into troubled cities with a purpose. Commissioner Salvino said he questions when someone leaves the job after two years; this concerns him. Ms. Narloch responded she is not concerned if she sees a progression. His fiance is here practicing medicine and he would like to return here. He left all of the positions on his own accord. Mayor James said she looked at the inconsistencies of where he has been; she does not see much loyalty, and he seems to chase the money. Ms. Narloch felt he should be included in the interviews in order for him to answer the Commission's questions. She feels there are enough challenges and opportunities in Dania Beach for him to stay here for the long term. Vice-Mayor Harris questioned the ICMA certification and Ms. Narloch explained its importance. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Craig Clay, Assistant City Manager of Miami Gardens. Commissioner Grace commented this candidate stood out because he seemed to have touched base on all of the tiers that we need. The salary seems to be in line. She did not see any experience with matching funds and grant writing, which is important to us. Ms. Narloch responded he has had that experience and understands how to look for additional revenue sources. Vice-Mayor Harris questioned his revenue enhancement and P3 experience. Mayor James wants to make sure his job changes were all to go a step higher. Ms.Narloch responded they were. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Jeffery Eder, City Administrator of East Peoria, Illinois. Commissioner Grace said she noticed he was a director of economic development, which hits home to her. What really caught her eye is the early retirement program. Ms. Narloch noted it is a tool cities use to recognize savings and to cause the organization to become leaner. Commissioner Grace added we should be cautious, as Hollywood nearly bankrupted itself paying out for early retirement. Commissioner Salvino said he has not heard anything about negotiating skills. Ms. Narloch said it was a key component of the three candidates she has reviewed so far. Vice-Mayor Harris asked about the populations of East Peoria and Rock Island. Ms. Narloch noted they both have a larger day population than their official population number. Mayor James said she does not see much Florida or coastal experience; our challenges are drastically different. Ms. Narloch responded she looks to see if a candidate has been able to acclimate to a community. Minutes of Meeting 2 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,June 13,2018—1:00 p.m. Commissioner Brandimarte said she got a bitter taste in her mouth at the Florida League of Cities meeting from the delegates who do not live near the water regarding the vote on replenishing the beaches. Our beach is our most prized possession and we need someone who has experience with them. Commissioner Salvino noted some candidates are coming from cities in the inner United States with much larger populations and questioned why they would take less money to come work for a city with 30,000 people. Commissioner Brandimarte asked if Ms. Narloch would verify that none of the candidates have been fired from a job; if one has been, she wants to know why. Ms. Narloch noted she inquired what the circumstances were surrounding the candidates transition to another job. She added there is more work to do and she will be doing background and reference checks on the candidates. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of J. Michael Moore, Assistant City Manager of Miramar, Florida. Commissioner Grace is reminded of some of the things that happened to her in the past with promotions. This candidate has been very consistent with what he has done over the years and has financial experience. She noted we buy water from Hollywood and asked if he understands we have different entities we have to work with. Ms. Narloch felt his strengths coming from his background lend themselves to the City's challenges and he is a team player. Commissioner Brandimarte asked about the two EEOC cases. Ms.Narloch described the cases and noted Miramar came out on top and the other case in Miami Dade is still open. Vice-Mayor Harris was impressed with his being responsible for having credit cards fees charged back to the cardholder rather than the city absorbing them, and his overall financial experience. Mayor James said she is impressed with this candidate. Because he is local, she was able to find information on one of the lawsuits, and she is concerned. Ms. Narloch said there is nothing that should not be asked of any of the candidates when they are brought in for an interview. The Commission has to be comfortable;the interviews are for airing out any concerns being expressed here. Vice-Mayor Harris noted the candidate's resume was forwarded to him by the Chairman of the Broward League of Cities and he sent it immediately to Ms. Narloch. Minutes of Meeting 3 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,June 13,2018— 1:00 p.m. Ms.Narloch said he had already applied by the time she received it. Commissioner Brandimarte does not like this fact and this candidate will not get her vote. Ms.Narloch noted she did not give preferential treatment to any of the candidates. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Blaine Oborn, City Administrator of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Commissioner Grace said this candidate is the weakest of all of them. Mayor James noted he comes from a resort city and it has beaches, however, she is not sure they have the same challenges that we have, and Lake Geneva has a much smaller population than we have. Commissioner Brandimarte listed what stood out for her with this candidate. Commissioner Salvino commented he does not think we are going to have a 5-0 vote or even a 4- 1 vote the way it looks today. We have an assistant city manager and right now, he has not seen anyone better than what we have. Commissioner Grace said there is only one candidate that stands out for her; she would like to go outside the box and add two names to be considered: Colin Donnelly and Brad Kaine. Ms. Narloch said the Commission can choose to add candidates, and noted Mr. Donnelly did not apply. She felt we have a few strong candidates; we might not get everything we want in a particular candidate, but their job as city manager is to supplement areas they are not strong in and surround themselves with the right people to get the job done. There are 39 candidates in the back of the recommended finalists book and anyone could be added to the mix. Commissioner Grace repeated she would like to add Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Kaine to the list to be interviewed. Mayor James felt because Mr. Kaine applied internally, she wants to give him the consideration to be interviewed. She does not know if Mr. Donnelly is interested and does not want to give someone consideration that did not show any interest in the position even though he is qualified. Commissioner Grace said she would withdraw Mr. Donnelly. Commissioner Salvino asked the Commission to give Mr. Donnelly an opportunity to interview. There was unanimous consensus of the Commission to give Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Kaine the opportunity to be interviewed. The Commission consensus was to remove Blaine Oborn from the list to be interviewed. Minutes of Meeting 4 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,June 13,2018— 1:00 p.m. Mayor James said she would like to remove Jeffery Eder; Commissioner Grace agreed. The Commission consensus was to keep Jeffery Eder on the list. Ms.Narloch read the names of the candidates to be interviewed: Howard Brown Craig Clay Colin Donnelly Jeffery Eder Brad Kaine J. Michael Moore Ms. Narloch said she will communicate to Mr. Donnelly that it was unanimous to add him, and we will reconvene on June 25th for the interviews. Mayor James noted we should come together on June 25 with a positive mindset; we need to have four votes to hire. Vice-Mayor Harris asked about the contract. City Attorney Ansbro said typically it has been done for one year and is renewable; you have to be mindful of out-of-state applicants seeking expenses. Discussion ensued regarding the contract duration and severance pay. Mayor James asked how much we are willing to pay a new city manager. Ms. Narloch responded we will get to a point where these items will need to be clarified; most of these things are negotiable. She suggested talking about a range and where they start within the range depends on qualifications. The Commission does not want to lock themselves in right now. Also, she will not only ask for a range within which the person can negotiate, but we will need a point person for negotiations when we get there; she thinks the City Attorney should be that person. City Attorney Ansbro noted he has typically done the negotiations at the direction of the Commission. Ms. Narloch noted we will first hash it out with the candidates at the June 250h interviews. She will provide questions to the Commission ahead of time for review, and the same set of questions will need to be asked to all candidates. She wants to make sure when interviews are done that all the Commission's questions are asked. After that, the Commission will probably want to bring one or two candidates back; she hopes to get a consensus at the end of the day on June 25th of who the Commission wants to move forward. Minutes of Meeting 5 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,June 13,2018— 1:00 p.m. Pat Chuckerman, 545 SE 4"' Court, commented she understands one of the candidates is involved in a lawsuit with the City of Dania Beach which should disqualify him. City Attorney Ansbro said the person is not named in the suit, he is a witness. City Attorney Ansbro clarified that regarding the EEOC case Mr. Moore was involved in; the secretary and the attorney were both disciplined. 3. Adj ournment Mayor James adjourned the meeting at 2:45 p.m. ATTEST: Q j'`� CITY OF DANIA BEACH Al THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC 1„4i TAMARA JAMES (j CITY CLERK ��/s}#�Q7' MAYOR Approved June 26, 2018 Minutes of Meeting 6 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,June 13,2018— 1:00 p.m.