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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-19 Workshop City Commission Meeting Minutes MINUTES OF WORKSHOP DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2019 - 3:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Mayor Lewellen called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Present: Mayor: Lori Lewellen Vice-Mayor: Lauren Odman Commissioners: Chickie Brandimarte Bill Harris Tamara James 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, which is a different mix of candidates this time. She said she added onto the list of prior candidates; the new ones have an asterisk by their names. The ultimate decision is the Commission's as to who will be interviewed. She would like to move quickly so that the candidates are not hanging out there a long time. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Ana Garcia, former City Manager of the City of North Miami Beach. She is a very credible candidate and is in the market to find her next landing place. She is very energetic and passionate about what she does, and a very dedicated public servant. She is very interested in coming to Dania Beach but does not really want to relocate. She recently competed in Miami Lakes. Her qualifications and abilities make her someone to definitely look at. Her salary range would likely need to be in the $180-190,000 range. Commissioner James questioned setting a salary range. Mayor Lewellen felt we should not lock ourselves in with a salary range. A brief discussion ensued regarding potential salary the City is willing to pay. Commissioner Brandimarte noted Ms. Garcia's background is mostly in police work, and she is not sure how she feels about that. Vice-Mayor Odman commented she does not want to set a cut-off range for the salary; she would rather keep it open. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Caryn Gardner-Young, former City Manager of Parkland and current Assistant City Manager of Delray Beach. She is an attorney, planner and a certified City Manager, and is well-rounded. There was a discrimination charge against her. When she left Parkland, it was the Commissioners' decision to go in a different direction. Ms. Narloch felt the Commission should definitely talk to her. Commissioner James noted she is impressed by the candidate list because many have longevity where they have served. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Susan Grant, former Deputy City Manager of Coral Springs. She was in Aventura, but it is a different kind of City. She moved up the ranks; if she has a weakness, it may be on the development side. She is one of the most dedicated people, and is very resourceful and strong, administratively speaking. Coral Springs is a very good organization relative to customer service and citizens connecting to the City. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Horace McHugh, CAO of Plantation. Plantation has a strong mayor form of government, which is why he is CAO. He is as well-rounded as a candidate comes. Over time, he has experienced a wide array of situations. There is a new Mayor in Plantation; department directors report to the Mayor so he is a little hand-tied right now. He has consistency and is also ICMA certified. Ms. Narloch reviewed the qualifications of Alex Rey, Town Manager of Miami Lakes. He had left but the Town of Miami Lakes called him to come back. He is in the DROP program and must retire by March 31"; this will make it a more difficult transition. We would have to look at other options. She included him based on his qualifications. She noted there is an Other Candidates list in the booklet. She reviewed the qualifications of Jeremy Earle, former CRA Director in Dania Beach, whose resume is not included because the booklets were prepared last week and he was a later applicant. He went to Fort Lauderdale from Dania Beach and subsequently Hallandale Beach recruited him as Assistant City Manager. There was an EEOC complaint in Hallandale Beach filed by a co-worker who thought she should have been promoted instead of Mr. Earle. Commissioner Harris noted it behooves the Commission to get someone here and asked how soon one-on-ones could be scheduled. Perhaps we could have a target date of February 14th. Minutes of Meeting 2 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,January 9,2019—3:00 p.m. Mayor Lewellen felt Valentine's Day is a little premature and March I"would be more realistic. We could likely start the interviewing process within the next two weeks. She noted she went through all of the applicants and she picked the same five as Ms. Narloch is recommending. She emphasized that the Commission does need to start picking dates. Ms. Narloch encouraged the Commission to do one-on-ones and a group interview. A lot is learned in a one-on-one and she would accompany any Commissioner who would be more comfortable with her present. Whether before or after the group interview, she wants the one- on-ones grouped with the group interview. Commissioner Brandimarte favored the way it was done last time; she needs time to look at all of the candidates. Vice-Mayor Odman questioned if this could be done within two weeks. Mayor Lewellen noted some of the resumes are from prior candidates. Vice-Mayor Odman questioned what we are going to do about a City Manager in the meantime and asked if everyone is comfortable with that. She asked if this is not done by February or March, if the Commission is comfortable with Assistant City Manager Donnelly being in the position of Acting City Manager in the meantime. Mayor Lewellen noted he is not really acting; it is more of a de facto position. The Assistant City Manager takes over the position of the City Manager when the City Manager is absent. She has no problem with it. City Attorney Ansbro addressed the Charter provision for an Acting City Manager. An interim City Manager would require four votes; there is no provision in the Charter for an interim manager. Vice-Mayor Odman asked if we have a resignation letter from City Manager Baldwin. Commissioner James said there is no letter; she is not sure where we stand. Commissioner Brandimarte commented he is using up his leave time. Commissioner Harris said the one-on-one is an important vehicle because each Commissioner deals with the City Manager one-on-one. Vice-Mayor Odman stated for the record, she is not comfortable with Assistant City Manager Donnelly as Acting City Manager or whatever title he holds. What she needs from a City Manager to be a fantastic Commissioner, she does not feel she is getting from him. She has concerns this process will not be done in a timely manner and she feels we are not setting ourselves up in the best place by having Assistant City Manager Donnelly as our City Manager for whatever the period of time is. Minutes of Meeting 3 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,January 9,2019—3:00 p.m. Mayor Lewellen noted he is our Assistant City Manager, so once there is no City Manager, he does become a de facto City Manager, unless we are going to get four votes to bring in an Acting City Manager. She does not think that will happen, and said we need to start getting some dates and allow the process to take place as it is supposed to. Her personal experience is that it is very important to not only interview the candidates, but for them to interview the Commission. She encouraged the Commission to do one-on-ones. Discussion ensued regarding setting a date for the group interviews. The consensus was to schedule the interviews and one-on-ones on Monday, January 28th, at 8:30 a.m. Ms. Narloch said if there are only three candidates, she would do both the group interviews and one-on-ones in one day. If there are more than three, she recommends doing it over a 2-day period. It would be better to have the group interviews on January 28th; the one-on-ones could be done after. Commissioner Brandimarte noted she has not read the resumes and needs more time to do so. Mayor Lewellen said we would have to have another workshop in order to come up with a list to interview. Further discussion ensued. Ms. Narloch recommended we wait until Commissioner Brandimarte has had the chance to review the resumes so as not to influence her decision on who she would like to bring forward. This way everyone would make their recommendations at the same time. Vice-Mayor Odman asked if anything precludes us from contacting a candidate privately before then. Ms. Narloch responded no, but she does not recommend it. If there is something a Commissioner would like to be conveyed to the candidates, she would be glad to do that. She will do her best to get one-on-ones scheduled as soon after the determination of who the Commission is moving forward; that would be the best time to have the initial conversation with the candidates. More discussion ensued on a meeting date to select candidates for interviews. Commissioner Brandimarte repeated she needs more time to review the 35 resumes, which she has not yet received. Mayor Lewellen asked if we were to give Commissioner Brandimarte until January 28th and schedule interviews the following week, whether we would still be on a good timeline to get this done by March 1-15. Ms. Narloch said yes. Minutes of Meeting 4 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,January 9,2019—3:00 p.m. Mayor Lewellen suggested we wait to do the workshop to select candidates to be interviewed on January 28tn Ms. Narloch said she would either be here by telephone or in person on January 28t"; she would like them to have formulated who they would like to see move forward and be ready for discussion. Luis Rimoli, 29 S. Federal Highway, commented Commissioner Brandimarte should have the time to review, but the other Commissioners should be able to pick their candidates now. Mayor Lewellen said they vote as a board who they want to move forward. Commissioner James noted we are to collectively discuss and decide who to move forward so that there is a consensus on who to select. The consensus was to schedule the workshop to select candidates to be interviewed on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. Discussion ensued regarding scheduling a meeting for group interviews and one-on-one interviews. The consensus was to schedule a workshop for group interviews on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Ms. Narloch noted she will be here in person for the interviews. She reminded the Commission there is a lot of fact finding yet to be done and encouraged them to keep an open mind and let the process play out. 3. Adj ournment Mayor Lewellen adjourned the meeting at 4:32 p.m. ATTEST: � BOAC CITY OF DANIA BEACH THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC E'er ,ya KOO LEW LEN CITY CLERK Ig�y�0 MAYOR Approved: January 22, 2019 Minutes of Meeting 5 Dania Beach City Commission Workshop—City Manager Candidate Recommendations Wednesday,January 9,2019—3:00 p.m.