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Minutes 02-17-00 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2000 AT 2:00 P.M. PRESENT Gerald Broening, Mayor Henderson Tillman, Vice Mayor William Sherman, Mayor Pro Tem Ron Weiland, Commissioner Nellie Denahan, Commissioner 3ames Cherof, City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk CALL TO ORDER Mayor Broening called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m. and announced that this special meeting was for the purpose of interviewing and reviewing the qualifications of the candidates for the position of City Manager. Mayor Broening stated the procedure as follows: · Each Commissioner would ask the candidates the same questions so that each would have the opportunity to respond. · The candidates would be rated i through 3 based on their responses. William P. Mitchell Assistant City Manager Newport News, Virginia Vice Mayor Tillman [f you were hired today, what would you do for the first six months on the job at Boynton Beach? Ny first few days and weeks would be aimed at familiarizing myself with the City, its employees and the members of the Commission. ! would like to have the opportunity to meet with key community and neighborhood groups that might be available. ! would want to familiarize myself with the financial condition of the City. ! would want to become acquainted with how the budget is being administered and review departments and program expenditures. T would want to hear from the Commission on things it considered to be a priority. ! would meet with staff to learn what issues they confront and what they consider to be important and try to make some assessment of what should be the key things that need immediate attention. One of the most important tasks would be to ensure that services are delivered in an effective and efficient way. That would occupy my time for the first six weeks of my tenure. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: If you were selected for this position, what standards should be used to assess your performance during the first year as City Manager? The most important standards are to be that ! have presented to the Commission the issues and tasks that ! think are important to the community. ]: will have put together those items as a result of the kind of input ! indicated to Vice Mayor Tillman that ! will be soliciting from various players in the community. ] also think that you would want to know that T had addressed a reasonable number of those items that MEETING Mt'NUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISS~[ON BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 are top priority to this Commission. Those would be the main standards in a general sense. Otherwise, T believe it would be important for service delivery to continue to be effective and for you to be able to observe improvements in area of interest or concern to the Commission. Those things would be important in your evaluation of my performance. Commissioner Weiland: If you were the manager, how would you weigh considering economic development, park issues and redevelopment for commercial in the CRA area to increase our tax base? I know this community values parkland and citizens need parks for their families to use and enjoy. ! place a high priority on preserving those kinds of uses in a community. Tf at all possible, T would not want to sacrifice land that had been designated as parkland if there were other options that lend themselves to economic development initiatives. As ! know from my earlier conversation with you, there are other opportunities for economic development in the community. ! think it would be the responsibility of the staff and the Commission to try to tap those opportunities and develop them concentrating the City's energy in those areas to avoid having to use land that has been designated for parkland. Protection of the environment itself and making sure there are good refuges for nature to be enjoyed and generally protected have increasing importance to our citizens. Of course, cities are like armies in a way. There's an old adage that says, "armies live on their stomachs". Cities live on their finances. We certainly can't shortchange the need for economic development activities and ! believe that a City like Boynton Beach has a very good story to tell to this State as well as this country about the many positives that are here. The good things that are here will make economic development a much easier function to perform. !t is just a matter of the community seizing the opportunity to tell its story. Of course, it cannot tell its story alone. Tt needs partners. ! would seek to identify those partners and the ones that most readily come to mind are other communities in the region as well as the State government itself --both of which are engaged in economic development activities. Those resources ought to be utilized and Boynton Beach certainly needs to make sure that it is part of the agenda of these other levels of government in terms of trying to attract desirable industry and commerce to the community. ., Commissioner Denahan: Tell us about some of your external relationships to the State and other local governments, the schools, the business community, citizens groups and the media. !t is important to work with a lot of other groups to deliver a successful governmental product. There is little that communities can accomplish alone and ! have, over the years, worked closely with the school system and youth serving agencies both locally and at the State level. ! have also had relationships with neighboring communities with regard to public transit. ! was a member of a regional transportation district commission that recently merged with another regional transit district to form one large transit system. We have had quite a lot of success working with the business community, responding to issues that would help retain those companies within the community as well as identify opportunities for those companies to expand their operations. I have worked closely with neighborhood associations to facilitate them, identify problems and issues that were important to them and not only stop there with asking about the problems they are concerned about, but also to solicit their view on some of the solutions to the problems. We have been quite successful in identifying ways to better serve communities and neighborhoods simply by appealing to the citizens and finding out their particular frustration. We have had some success in decreasing crime in areas through the use of neighborhood groups. There were problems at one time with a lot of street MEETING MZNUTES SPECTAL CZTY COMMZSSTON BOYNTON BEACH, FLOP~DA FEBRUARY '17, 2000 drug sales and no one knows any better who the people are who engage in those kinds of illegal activities than the people who actually live in those neighborhoods and are burdened and victimized by those activities. Oftentimes all they need is a mechanism to express them and they can put their fingers almost immediately on getting to the bottom of the problem and the issue. There is a concept now called community governance. A large part of that is an outgrowth of community policing. The major element of it is going into the community and listening to the citizens. This allows the government to hear firsthand what kind of services are working and what kinds of services could be improved with changes in service delivery practices. 5. Mayor Broening: Why do you want to come to Boynton Beach? I have been in local government for quite a number of years and I feel I need some movement in my career. I really do not want to end my career as an Assistant Manager and I think that coming to work in Boynton Beach or a city like Boynton Beach can be a capstone to my career and would complete my career. I would be able to say that I had a full local government experience and career. Boynton Beach offers that opportunity because you have a vacancy and I think that I have much more to contribute to public service. T have been committed to public service my entire life and I take it very seriously. I believe I am a decent professional and I think I know the business fairly well. As I told Commissioner Weiland, "sure would like to live in Florida". This presents an opportunity to do that. Florida is an appealing place for obvious reasons. I am always trying to learn more about this business. I do not profess to know everything that there is to know. I would only assure you that I would work hard at it and be above board and open which is the only way for a manager to deal with a governing body. T always get better at what it is I do. I'll start at one level and I'm confident that I end up at a much higher level in the end. Those are the reasons I'm interested in Boynton Beach and they're also some reasons that I think I bring some value. Vice Mayor Tillman: How important do you think your experience in terms of remaining in a job a certain length of time is in bringing that key element to Boynton Beach? It is important because I have observed a lot of things and I've done a lot of things in the years that I have committed to local government and as I was telling Commissioner Sherman, I don't surprise easily. I think I've seen almost everything there is to see and I believe that there are few surprises for me in government whether or not it has to do with staff personnel, the community, or the Commission. I think I have a fairly good instinct for what it is that elected officials are interested in. I know each of you has a constituency while at the same time, the entire City and community must be your primary interest and constituency. I've gained this knowledge over a considerable number of years. I know that management requires a certain amount of hands-on and being there in order to be effective at it. ! know that just because you say you want something done, that doesn't necessarily mean its going to get done. You have to do some follow up to make sure things get accomplished. I know the importance of fairness both in dealing with employees as well with the communities. One of the main criterion of fairness is if I can do it for one, can I do it for another? If the answer is no, generally it's probably the better part of wisdom to steer clear of it. ! could go on because ! have included a certain amount of experience in all those numbers of years. That is the value ! will bring to Boynton Beach. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: If you were selected as our City Manager, how would you assess the strengths and weaknesses of our organization and how would you identify opportunities to improve it? 3 MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMTSSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLOI~DA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 The challenge is delivering services to the citizens and meeting their expectations and satisfying their needs. ! would assess the effectiveness of the organization by how well the staff responds to those needs. ! believe that there is no better way to tell how well an organization does than to see how the community feels about the services it receives. !t may be necessary to survey and get baseline data about how the community feels about the organization. ! have no reason to believe that the community has anything but high regard for the City organization now. Later on, we would be able to find out whether there has been any improvement in areas where the community had identified the need for improvement. You look for opportunities for improvement whenever you hear recurring concerns and complaints. Those are areas that demand review for improvement. Commissioner Weiland: During the past 10 months, we have had a difficult time hiring a City Manager. The community has become very uneasy about us not being able to make a selection. If you were hired as a City Manager, there is a possibility that there are different factions of the City that would not welcome your appointment. What would you do and how would you approach bringing the community back together and entrusting your ability to lead the City? ! would commit myself to working for whoever is in the position of authority and responsibility and ! would see that the organization provides good sound staff work that can be relied upon and that the information is accurate and the organization is open. T would let people know that the City government is here to provide assistance and be of service and that we are not attempting to identify reasons why not to do things. We are trying to identify how to get things done. ! believe that is all that the community wants and community leaders want. They want to be convinced that they are getting a fair days work for a fair dollar. They want to feel that what they receive is reliable and that people are committed to doing good. Commissioner Denahan: What three critical factors have you found work for you in affecting employee morale in order to help you bring everyone on board if you were selected? First and foremost is to let employees know that they are valued; that they're important and that they are going to be supported when they're right and if there may be disagreement with them. !f they're wrong, as long as it's not something deliberate, they will be supported as well and they will be listened to and their ideas will be sought out. Their ideas will be expected to help manage the City and address its issues. No one can get very much accomplished alone and it is probably even more true in local government. !t is key that people know that they are needed to make a contribution. They need to be recognized for the contributions they make. Nothing is more distressing to an employee group than for people to take more credit for achievements than is really justified. Almost always, achievement is a group accomplishment. Frequently, the leadership will take kudos quickly and easily and that can hurt morale. Praise needs to be equitably spread around while the blame comes to the top. The top then makes it clear that it doesn't want to have to take too much blame too frequently. 10. Mayor Broening: What special quality would you bring to Boynton Beach? ! would work hard for Boynton Beach. ! believe that my most important asset right now is commitment to get things done. !t is easy to talk the game. The hard part is the doing. T will take hold of the task and stay with it. ! do not like to be embarrassed and ! am sure you don't either. There is nothing more embarrassing to me than to fail for not having made a genuine effort. There will be disappointments and failures from time to time and if we learn from the mistakes, they have value. One thing that the MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL cTrY COMMISSTON BOYNTON BEACH~ FLORIDA FEBRUARY 17~ 2000 Commission can rest assured of is that ]: would make Boynton Beach an integral part of me. I try to look ahead. Whenever we are confronted with a challenge, we start from where we are at that point. There is little or no value in looking back at yesterday to try to identify a scapegoat. What is important is what is needed to take us out of the situation we are in and move us ahead. I would work to try to do that. MA YOR BROENING THANKED iYR. MITCHELL AND INOUIRED IF HE HAD ANY OUESTIONS FOR THE CONIPIISSION. MR. MITCHELL HAD NO (~UESTIONS TO ASK. MAYOR BROENI'NG DECLARED A BI~EF RECESS. KURT BRESSNER Village Manager Bensenville, Illinois Vice Mayor Tillman: If you were hired as the next City Manager, what would you do in the first six months? What ! would want to do is talk to some of the influential people in the community to find out their views. :[ would talk to the Chamber, educational community, healthcare services, citizen leaders and those types of individuals that have demonstrated an interest in the community. ! would want to work with each Commissioner to find out what you would want to accomplish individually and as a group. T would meet with the employees to determine what their priorities and interests are and do an inventory of what is called "the civic index". This is something that the National Civic League has put together. Tt is a method to evaluate a community in terms of citizen participation, community leadership, government performance, the level of volunteerism in the community, inter-group relations in the community and the civic education in the schools. T would get a fix on that and talk about the type of information that is being disseminated and where it is coming from. T would try to determine how accurate that information is and find out if there is capacity for cooperation and conciliation if there have been conflicts. ! would determine the community vision. I know there is community pride. ! would want to look at the type of inter-community cooperation that exists. Boynton Beach is part of a region that is dependent upon sister agencies and sister governmental units. I would do this within the first 60 days. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: If you were selected for this position, what standards should be used to assess your performance during the first year? It would be very helpful to sit down with the Commission early on to establish specific projects and benchmarks that you are looking for both internally and externally. There are a number of internal issues in the organization in terms of employee relations. From what I've seen, the staff is very good, very enthusiastic and interested in doing the right thing for the community. I know there have been efforts in the past to develop more teamwork among staff members and T would ask that we come up with a list of activities and projects that the Commission is interested in having me perform and develop benchmarks for success. Commissioner Weiland: Weighing the factor that Boynton needs to increase its tax base, please explain the needs of developing parks and recreation versus economic development. MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY '17, 2000 The struggle between open space and development is something that is being played out in communities all over the United States. Tf the conditions are such that there are opportunities for economic development and they can allow reframing of the open space so that two projects could emerge, perhaps with a larger piece of property and reshaping, you might be able to fulfill both desires of the community under one project. ! don't view it as a zero sum and T don't view it as a win-lose situation. ! do view it as having to take stock of what's there, what the expectations are of the citizens and what the desires are of the Commission. You must then balance those needs and come up with possible alternatives. Tt is important to get the plans out and get them circulated so that there is adequate public dialogue and involvement in the discussion. The old adage is "if you tell me I'm going to forget. Tf you show me I may remember, but if you involve me, T'm going to understand". 'Tn the case of land use decisions, the more involvement there is, the better off. You might be pleasantly surprised that citizens who may have been diametrically opposed to the development of a piece of property may take a look and say, under these circumstances, ! think maybe I can support something. Then you have something to work with. The community does need to focus on economic development, but it doesn't necessarily have to be at the cost of some other attributes in the community. It will take some tact and diplomacy, behind-the- scenes work and some statesmanship by everybody that is involved. Commissioner Denahan: Please expound on some of your external relationships in reference to state or other local government, schools, business community, citizens groups and the media. ! have been actively involved in a number of professional associations that serve local governments - the !ntemational City Management Association. ! am chairman of a special committee that is looking at graduate education for public administration degrees. ! am working with NSPA (National Society for Public Administration) trying to refine the curriculum for graduate students to make sure that the education they receive is relevant to municipal government. Too often the education that is derived at the graduate level may not be on point to those individuals that want to choose local government as a career. I am also on the Board of Directors for the Innovations Group and have been on the board for the last two years. The !nnovations Group is an organization of the best and the brightest communities in the United States. These are the communities that are doing the right thing and they are the types of communities that you would want to rub shoulders with because this is where the brain crust is. These cities are no different than Boynton Beach, but they have focussed on their communities and are willing to share that information. Part of the responsibility as a board member is to continue that flow of information and develop means by which that information can be given to the members of the organization. Tf I am selected as manager, one of my conditions of employment will be that Boynton Beach joins the Innovations Group because it will give staff and the Commission an opportunity to share experiences and work from the experiences of others. !n terms of other organizations, ! am on the board for the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference that is a council government. I have been actively involved with that organization that represents about 900,000 people in the Chicago area and DuPage County. I have been on that Board of Directors off and on for the last 15 years. That organization gives us an opportunity, as a member of a municipality, to participate in legislative issues and deal with technology issues. Currently I am chairman of the Transportation Policies Committee and we are in the process of implementing a traffic signal inter-connection system for the entire county for better traffic flow of the area. Each board member is responsible as a chairperson of a particular committee. Both elected and appointed members are voting members of the Board of Directors. MEETZNG MI'NUTES SPECTAL CTTY COMMTSSZON BOYNTON BEACH, FLORZDA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 ! serve also as the Vice-Chairman of the 911 Board that is the Emergency Service Telephone Board for DuPage County. As Vice Chairman, T am responsible for handling over $7 million a year in surcharge revenue that we use to fund the 911 system that is a countywide system in DuPage County. !n terms of the Chamber, T have been on Boards of Directors of the Chamber. T think there is an important relationship between Chambers and municipalities, recognizing that Chambers and boards don't always agree but they must talk to each other. They've got to work with each other even to a point of disagreeing, but being able to say T respect your position. T have always found that having a relationship with a Chamber of Commerce is a benefit to the community. Sometimes it's adversarial and sometimes we're on the other side of an issue, but we've always found ways to talk and T think that's very important to any community. T know that in Boynton Beach, the situation with the Chamber kind of comes and goes and it's like that all over the United States. Am T connected? Yes. T try to be involved in external issues rather than just stay in my community. T'm a visual learner. That's how ! learn things by meeting and working with people. I've learned a lot today from you all and your staff. T'm taking some things back to my community that Boynton Beach is doing. I've been keeping notes too. Tt's a learning experience for me. 5. Mayor Broening: Why do you want to come to Boynton Beach? This is a complex community. Tt has a good base for citizen involvement and potential for some good changes. The core elements seem to be present here. You've got a viable business community. Some areas are more viable than others are, but you have a core. There appears to be active religious, social and fraternal organizations in the community. These are core elements of any successful community that make them good hometowns. You have gathering points in the community. You have taken care to establish gathering points in the community for people to come together, share experiences and socialize. Tn talking with staff, you have a lot of cultural events and community events that are gathering points and are very important for the life of the community. You have a committed staff. The core infrastructure appears to be good and you are addressing some of your internal issues through training and developing your staff. 1 see good potential. 6. Vice Mayor Tillman: How important is stability to you in the job. My first position was for 11 years in Wood Dale and in Downers Grove for nine years. That is a very long tenure for this profession. The average tenure for managers nationwide is about four or four and one- half years. So, in both of those communities T exceeded that time line. Tt wasn't aS if you got to cruise control after a certain point in time in your career. Tn both those communities what T found was that the opportunities and challenges continued to come my way and T was never bored or complacent in terms of what T was working on. Tt kept coming at me and ! kept coming at it for the entire tenure in those communities. Bensenville is kind of a white-knuckle ride right now too because there is always something going on. A good manager is not going to be sitting back and waiting for things. He/she is going to be anticipatory - go out and find out what's going on in the community and try to address those things before they become a crisis so that you all look good and the newspapers print nothing but good news about your community. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: !f you were selected our city Manager, how will you assess the strengths and weaknesses of our organization and how would you identify opportunities to improve it? MEETI'NG MTNUTES SPECTAL CI'TY COMMI'SSZON BOYNTON BEACH, FLOI~DA FEBRUARY '17, 2000 I focus on the strengths because that is where the success is. Weaknesses will manifest themselves soon enough. What I have found in my experience has been that working with groups of employees, whether it's a task-oriented team, or working in small groups to have them work with each other and help each other, builds self-confidence. It gets them focussed on programs and activities that they are proud of doing and they want you to know about. What we did in Downers Grove at least once a month is that we showcased a program or activity at the Council meeting. Staff made a presentation of the new ideas that were generated by staff and nurtured by the Manager and department head. There were a number of mistakes made in the process, but they were all learning experiences for the individuals involved and the failures were celebrated, as were the successes. We celebrated the failures a lot quieter, but we did mark those down and move on. My role as manager is not to direct the work of the staff. My role as manager is to make things happen and make staff do the work and let them develop their own priorities with guidelines from you all and from me. !t is their responsibility and a trust factor is involved. One thing about me - you have my trust, you keep my trust. That's great. You betray my trust, it's going to be a long time until you crawl out of that whole and get back into my trust. !t can happen, but it takes you a while. That's one of my traits. You develop trust; you keep trust and it's great. We work together. !f the trust is betrayed, it takes a while to come back. ! do eventually, but you've got to really earn your way back. !t is an adult relationship. T'm not a father. I'm not a mother. This is an adult relationship. We're all here to do a job. We are all professionals in terms of we have all selected public service as a career. There are shortcomings to that by virtue of the fact that a number of us in the public sector have no privacy whatsoever in terms of our lives. A number of us are on-call 24 hours a day and are asked to work in terrible conditions. Maybe it's not so bad here except that T understand you get hurricanes. That's the equivalent of a snowstorm or a water main break at 20 below. T make it a point of going out and seeing the staff in those kinds of environments. ! was telling Commissioner Weiland this morning that just two weeks ago we had a water main break. !n !Ilinois, in the winter, the water is about 42 degrees and you're in a hole with water that is warmer than the ground. ! was on my way home from a meeting and stopped by to talk to the crew. My point to them was "!'m sorry you have to be here, but you're doing something important for the community". "Thank you for setting up the barricades the way you did safely so that traffic can get around." "You were using risk management smarts." They straightened up and said, "thank you sir, we appreciate that". ! said ! would tell their supervisor tomorrow and ! did. ! do try to get out into the field and work with the staff to acquaint myself to them. This is a very large organization, but it is an organization that is a family. We are all connected by public service. Commissioner Weiland: In the past :~0 months, we have had a difficult time selecting a City Manager. A large part of the City is at unrest at this indecision. If you are appointed, you may not be accepted by part of the community. How would you approach this and bring them together? ! believe in equity. T believe in equity of services, programs and opportunity. ! would do everything I could to live that and walk that walk and talk that talk because ! think it is very important. ! understand those complexities and the difficulty that that places, but I have always found in working with individuals that there is a common point someplace. !t may take a little bit to determine that common point, but then we build on that. You build on relationships and you develop trust. !f there are neighborhood meetings, ! prefer to meet in a church, a school or the living room of a home. Having a community meeting at some place other than City Hall is a way to do outreach. !n those environments, people start out very suspicious. Within a short period of time, you can win people's trust. T'II do my best to use all the skills that ]:'ve been given to make that happen recognizing that maybe ]:'m not the person they might have wished would have been appointed to this position. MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLOI~DA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 Commissioner Denahan: ! believe our employees are our most valuable assets. Dovetailing on Commissioner Weiland's comments, some of the employees may have a hard time moving toward acceptance of you or whomever we appoint as our new City Manager. What three critical factors would you use to impact employee morale and how would you use them to transition yourself into the position easier? Employees understand what they do and the mere fact of me asking them, "what do you do and how do you do it" and "show me what you do" will be a way to have me understand what they contribute to the organization and the community. They teach me and T would do that to find out from them individually or as groups what they do. T know a little bit about being a Police Chief now because T'm acting Police Chief. !'m hitting at some of the edges of law enforcement and it is a very complex profession. T have been able to pick up some of the concerns and issues so ! can empathize with them. T would ask the employees what they feel they are doing that they don't understand why they are doing it. !n many bureaucracies, ritual sometimes precedes logic. The third question would be, "what do you want to do?" "Where are the areas where you can improve the program?" When put to the test, the public employee delivers for the good of the community and does well on behalf of the community. They will moan about it, but when needed, the employees are on a focussed mission and take care of their responsibilities. T am not a great one for doing goals on a departmental basis. From my point of view, there are main focal points in the community that need to be dealt with. When you focus on those activities, you accumulate individuals and talent in the organization. T do not have the experience in Florida; therefore, T would be locked at the hip with the City Attorney. But T have moxie to work with people. 10. Mayor Broening: What special qualities would you bring to Boynton Beach? ! have a high degree of integrity. ! understand full well that the role of the City Manager has changed. The role is not only responsibility for directing day-to-day operations, but also that of a convener. They bring parties together, get the dialogue going and they step out of the picture when the conversation goes on. T have a good work ethic. !'m resourceful. ! can come up with seemingly random ideas and try to pull them together into cohesive ideas and concepts. !'m well known in the profession and T can get things done through colleagues. T picked up the phone and found out an awful lot about you all by talking to some colleagues. T made three phone calls and they generated a lot of information about Boynton Beach. Those are sOme of the things ! bring personally to the table and maybe they will be a benefit to you. I~A YOR BROENZNG THANKED ~YR. BRESSNER AND ZNQU£RED £F HE HAD ANY QUEZTZONS FOR THE COI¥1~ISSION. Mr. Bressner asked the Commissioners to address the issue of equity of services throughout the community. lVlayor Broening said he was not sure of the answer, and explained that there is a perception. Usually, where there is a perception; there is often a reality. This is something the Commission would forward to the new City Manager as a first priority. MEETZNG MTNUTES SPECZAL C~TY COMMZSSZON BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY '17~ 2000 Commissioner Weiland said it is very important that the highest quality services are provided. The citizens are family of the City of Boynton Beach and they must be taken care of. All aspects of the City are of the utmost importance and the Commission is concerned about keeping the citizens happy. MAYOR BROENTNG DECLARED A BI~EF RECESS. DAVZD H. READY City Administrator Flint, Michigan Vice Mayor Tillman: If you were hired, what would you do the first six months? Please be specific. ! believe leadership is active and reflective. The first part would be reflective with a lot of listening, discovering the in-depth issues, meeting a lot of people including department heads, staff, citizens and community to understand the issues and move forward from there. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: !f you were selected, what standards should be used to assess your performance? T would like to think that is a high standard in terms of benchmarks as far as service delivery, integrity of the office, and where the City Commission thinks the City should move and my ability to move in that direction. T would be open to setting goals and benchmarks and you holding me to that standard. Commissioner Weiland: Boynton Beach needs to increase its tax base with economic development. How should we achieve that keeping in mind the needs for parks and recreation? T firmly believe that cities either develop or die. That has been a main thrust of my tenure in Flint. Development is a key issue in Boynton Beach. The key is staying with it and being able to pierce the limitations by continually chipping away. You stay with it and move it along and little by little things start to change. As far as the tax base goes in terms of economic development versus other uses for land, it is a balance and mix that is decided by the governing body based on good rational criteria. My job is to imbue that process with vigor to make it happen. Commissioner Denahan: Would you please expound on some of your external relationships to the State and other local governments, the schools, business community, citizens groups and the media? Relationships are very important because without them, many of the things that occurred in Flint could not have been done. A particular example was the new Downtown Minor League Baseball Stadium and Arena/Convention. This was a major project and to do it, all stakeholders had to come to the table. What the City of Flint cannot do alone, an authority (a partnership) will be created and we will make it work and spread the liability across a wider geographic location. The City of Flint supplies water to the entire county via the Detroit water system. My role was politically controversial because ! chaired the joint city/county water partnership to renew the county and other municipalities' contracts with the City of Flint. Tn turn, ! had to renegotiate with Detroit because the 10 MEETING MINUTES SPECTAL CITY COMMISSTON BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 rates had increased more than 300% over the 20-year contract. ! brought all of the players to the table so that everyone could move forward with one contract. We have more than 100 neighborhood groups and organizations. Tt is important for me to remain involved with them to keep them engaged in the City process. With respect to the media, I have embraced them and created a good symbiosis that serves the community and the larger area. 5. Mayor Broening: Why do you want to come here? I have been in Flint for 8 years and I wanted to move the city to the next level. I have accomplished what I set out to do. I would like the challenge to take a City with a lot of potential to the next level on the way to the "World Class City". Vice Mayor Tillman: How important do you believe stability is and do you see yourself as a stable person in terms of your job? I think my history speaks for me. I have held my last two positions for eight years each. ! understand the importance of stability because projects do not happen overnight. I appreciate the need for stability especially in the structural arrangement of government that has issues of long-term effect that need to be put into practice. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman: If you are selected our City Manager, how will you assess the strengths and weaknesses of our organization and identify opportunities to improve it? I would let the organization speak to me to find out where it is. ! would piece together the Commission's goals and objectives and the City's mission to find out how each process can be better. T believe each process can be improved. The manager must allow the organization to see and make those process changes. Organizational development is the key to finding the strengths and weaknesses and moving the process along. I am a strong advocate of clear goals, benchmarks and accountability. I hold myself to that same standard. Commissioner Weiland: Tn the past 10 months, we have had a difficult time in selecting a City IVlanager. At this time, the City is uneasy about our inability to select a person. If you were to be chosen as the City Manager, there is a possibility that certain factions of the City would not accept you as the right person for the job. How could you bring the community together and accept that you would be the right person that could do the job? I can best answer this question by saying that my passion for government is one that being inclusive is of critical importance. Flint is a diverse community. My staff is diverse. The personnel are very diverse. Whether it's the City Hall Christmas choir or a major policy initiative, I am always thinking of the issues of diversity and balance and bringing the community together. I am always sensitive to the fact and possibility of those things that could take the community apart. For me to demonstrate that T'm the right person for the job for the entire community is something T understand. I can demonstrate that by being involved. Commissioner Denahan: T believe that our employees are our best assets. You may have a little bit of resistance with employees as you transition if you are selected. What would be the three critical factors that 11 MEETZNG MZNUTES SPECZAL CTTY COMMZSS~ON BOYNTON BEACH, FLOI~DA FEBRUARY '17~ 2000 you have found in your previous positions helped you with employee morale and will help you transition into this position? Organizational development is the key. By understanding and performing organizational development well, whether it's training or giving employees more latitude to help them. The staff and the bureaucracy need to understand that they have a place. More specifically, through goals and benchmarks and a program that we all can embrace, the organization itself puts the pressure on individuals to perform. I'm running the organization correctly, an employee that waivers in one capacity or another doesn't need to worry about me. If I'm doing it correctly, those employees should be worried about their peers. The three critical factors would be: 1) a good quality service program; 2) goals and objectives that everyone agrees to; and 3) facilitating the resources that let employees get the work done, whether it's equipment or personnel. 10. Mayor Broening: What special quality or qualities would you bring to Boynton Beach if you were selected? Long ago I made a personal decision that if I was going to rise to the highest level of government in terms of professionalism and to be a professional in government, I needed experience and education. I tried to do that. I bring my educational background that has allowed me to frame the issues of government, frame the issues of law and frame the issues-of public administration. The experience I have helps me to merge the two into a theory of practices that is workable. I~IAYOR BROENING THANKED I~IR. READY AND INQUIRED IF HE HAD ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE COiYMISSION Mr. Ready: What do you see as the ideal City Manager? Commissioner Weiland responded that the ideal manager should have strong leadership and involvement to the fullest capability and dedication to the employees so that they have a leader they can depend on. Vice Mayor Tillman said he feels an effective city manager should be one that has a proven track record through projects, concepts and events. His immediate team and the employees should hold him in the highest regard. He should be a person who accepts criticism as well as accommodations equally and spreads them in the same manner. This person should be open and fair-minded and willing to go above and beyond his duties. This person must get the job done. Commissioner Denahan commented that the City Manager must be an effective communicator. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman said he would like the City Manager to do the diligence and look into our organization as he finds it when he arrives here. He would like the City Manager to take the necessary time to assess it in order to determine our strengths and weaknesses and come up with an effective plan to make any corrections that are necessary. Mayor Broening agreed with the remarks that were made and added that he would like the City Manager to be the kind of leader who never asks anyone to do something he wouldn't do himself. In addition, a leader is an enabler. The leader sets the climate, provides the incentives and anything else necessary to do the job. The leader should not attempt to overdefine what the job is because the person who performs the job best defines the job. Mr. Ready thanked the members of the Commission for taking the time to interview him. He pointed out that all of the candidates are well skilled. However, a fifth dimension that he finds helpful is the ability to 12 MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH~ FLORZDA FEBRUARY 17~ 2000 look ahead in anticipation of problems in order to take corrective action before they become problems. This is an important characteristic and aspect that he continually tries to work at. MAYOR BROENTNG DECLARED A BRIEF RECESS AT 4:15 P.M. THE MEETING RECONVENED AT 4:30 P.M. Mayor Broening was confident that three outstanding candidates were interviewed and believed the Commission would be able to reach consensus on the selection of a City Manager. He pointed out that once a selection was made, a background check would be required and on March 7th, the Commission would approve a formal Resolution to make an offer. Commissioner Weiland said he would like to forego spending any additional time on this and not put off the decision until March 7th. Although it is necessary for our Police to do a background check, perhaps the Commission could make a decision on the candidate today through discussion and let the Police proceed with the background check. If it is positive, the person would have the appointment and we could put the issue to rest for the sake of the community. Commissioner Weiland agreed to listen to the Commissioners' comments. Attorney Cherof advised that this would be a two-fold process. The first step would be the selection of the candidate that is followed by an informal process (administrative process) of preparing an employment agreement and performing the background check. The second part is the formal approval of a Resolution of Appointment with the contract attached to it. Attorney Cherof advised that the Commission could do the administrative part and address the Resolution of Appointment and employment contract on March 7th. Commissioner Weiland recalled that in the past, a selection was made, but before the ratification took place, members of the Commission changed their minds. Commissioner Weiland would not want that to happen again. He wants assurance that the Commission's action would be etched in stone based on successful negotiation of the contract and this process would be completed on March 7th. Mayor Broening agreed with Commissioner Weiland's remarks and stated that would be his hope. However, the legal process is necessary. Mayor Broening said he is almost 100% confident that if he makes a selection today, he would not change his mind except for a reason of cause between now and March 7th. Commissioner Denahan remarked that all of the candidates are qualified, but they each have a healthy concern because two of the Commissioners will not be on the Commission when he begins work. She recommended that the Commission consider selecting a second choice in the event the first-choice candidate elects not to accept the position. Commissioner Denahan agreed that she did not want to repeat former history. Mayor Pro Tern Sherman requested Mr. Slavin's opinion with respect to Commissioner Denahan's recommendation. Mr. Slavin felt it would be a good and sound idea in the event the first-choice candidate decided not to accept the position or failed the background check. Mr. Slavin expressed some concern about whether or not the second candidate would accept such an offer, but pointed out that most times, they will. These candidates have been in this business for a long time and understand how it works. Mayor Pro Tern Sherman said that when he interviewed the three candidates, he asked them if they would come to Boynton Beach if they were selected. Each one of them responded affirmatively. The second question was how soon they could take charge and their responses were approximately a month. 13 MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 Mayor Pro Tem Sherman feels there is a very good chance of the second person agreeing to accept the position if necessary. Commissioner Weiland pointed out that once a selection is made, contract negotiations would begin that include salary and benefits. He pointed out that Attorney Cherof handled this search and questioned whether he would handle the negotiations. Attorney Cherof advised that the City has a contract for a City Manager. The sole issue is the dollar amount that would be added to the contract and Attorney Cherof would like the Commission to review that collectively. Commissioner Weiland recalled that a salary range was determined during a workshop meeting. However, there was no determination wiLh respect to a severance package or a car allowance. Commissioner Weiland wants to make certain that every issue is covered so that we can reach successful negotiations. Attorney Cherof said he would give the successful candidate our contract and ask him, in consultation with Mr. Slavin, to have the contract returned to us with the appropriate blanks filled in. :It would then come back to the Commission collectively for consideration. Attorney Cherof reminded the Commissioners of the Special Meeting scheduled for February 29th, At the present time, there are two items on the agenda. This contract proposal could be added to that agenda. The Commissioners were agreeable to this suggestion. Attorney Cherof pointed out that once that occurs, the formal approval could take place on March 7th, Commissioner Weiland pointed out that the candidate would not give his current employer his formal resignation until March 8th, That would mean that the candidate probably would not start work here for four to six weeks. When the discussion returned to whether or not to select first and second-choice candidates, Commissioner Weiland said he had very strong feelings about one candidate. He had concerns about the other two candidates. When only Vice Mayor Tillman and Commissioner Denahan felt it was necessary to have a fallback candidate, Attorney Cherof suggested that the Commission defer that decision of a back-up candidate until the meeting on February 29th. Consensus There was consensus of the Commission to defer the decision of the back-up candidate until the meeting of February 29m. :In Commissioner Weiland's opinion, one candidate showed exemplary measures in his ability to lead with experience, his attitude, organizational skills, concern in dealing with employees, education, accomplishments and his ability to lead the City of Boynton Beach. ! was impressed by his statement that if he were chosen, he would discuss it with his family. Not only did he have to sell himself to the Commission, but also the Commissioners had to sell themselves to him. The other two candidates did not allude to this. Commissioner Weiland said he would like discussion about appointing Kurt Bressner as our new City Manager. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman said Mr. Bressner was his choice as well. 14 MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY '17, 2000 Vice Mayor'-I~llman felt all of the candidates were good, but since we contracted for five candidates, he would prefer to interview five. The two outstanding candidates were Mr. Bressner and Mr. Mitchell. However, Vice Mayor Tillman was impressed with Mr. Mitchell when he said the first thing he would do if he were hired was to look at the books. Therefore, Mr. Mitchell was Vice Mayor Tillman's first choice, followed by Mr. Bressner. Commissioner Denahan said she was impressed with all of the candidates. She advised that she had an opinion, but since she would not be serving under the City Manager, she would prefer to withhold her opinion and allow the three Commissioners who will remain on the Commission to state their opinions first. Commissioner Denahan said she was impressed with Mr. Mitchell's response that he would look at the books. By the same token, she was equally impressed that Mr. Bressner would not accept the job without his wife's agreement. She would have no reservation in appointing any of the three candidates. Mayor Broening said he asked the really hard questions during the morning session. All three candidates gave perceptive and well thought-out answers. However, in the afternoon, Mr. Bressner stood out in the crowd. Mayor Broening liked his energy and likes the fact that his team goes outside city hall. This is an area where this City has been inactive. Mayor Broening was impressed with Mr. Bressner's knowledge of Boynton Beach and believes he is ready to "hit the ground running". Mayor Broening said he was impressed by Mr. Mitchell wanting to look at the books, but he is not uneasy about this City's books. Mayor Broening said the weight of his opinion would go to Mr. Bressner. Commissioner Denahan said it is a significant statement for the Commission to make a unanimous decision and she requested more discussion from Mayor Pro Tem Sherman, Commissioner Weiland and Vice Mayor Tillman before she voted on the issue. Commissioner Weiland said he would like to see a unanimous vote, but a unanimous vote is not required. Commissioner Weiland did not believe the candidate would reject an offer once he learned that a unanimous vote could not be achieved because the dissenting vote was from a Commissioner that would not be on the Commission when he started work here. Commissioner Weiland said Mr. Bressner showed extraordinary strength and determination that he could lead our City with great experience. He has three colleagues in Boynton Beach to bring him up to speed. He said he doesn't know anything about Florida law and would be joined at the hip with the City Attorney. Commissioner Weiland felt very comfortable with Mr. Bressner. Mr. Ready was brief and direct in his answers. He made clear statements about what he would do. Mr. Bressner gave great detail that showed that he has the qualifications, experience, desire and determination to lead the City. Mr. Mitchell seemed somewhat apprehensive and that raised concern with respect to how he would deal with the public and developers. Mr. Bressner was above and beyond the other candidates and could do an outstanding job for the City. Vice Mayor Tillman said his main concern was stability because we are in the implementation phase of many projects with respect to Vision 20/20. Mr. Mitchell showed that stability. Newport News was a city that existed on the Cold War. When the Cold War ended, Virginia was sunk. Mr. Mitchell went in and under his leadership, he brought the city back. He breathed life back into the city. That speaks well in terms of his ability to stay on a job and see it through. ! did not see any other incident from the others that achieved what Mr. Mitchell and his subordinates have done in Newport News. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman pointed out that a 4-1 vote was needed. Everyone is entitled to a choice and it is not a necessity to persuade someone to change his vote. Although a unanimous decision would look good, a 4-1 vote would put a City Manager in place. 15 MEETING MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA FEBRUARY 17, 2000 Mayor Pro Tem Sherman said that when the Mayor asked Mr. Bressner what he would bring to Boynton Beach, Mr. Bressner said integrity and a mid-western style work ethic. He summarized by saying that the job ahead of him was not like "falling off a log", Mr. Bressner is up to the challenge and Mayor Pro Tem Sherman was totally impressed by his summation. Mayor Pro Tem Sherman is willing to accept a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Denahan said she would like to have a unanimous decision on this vote, but she would prefer not to prolong the discussion since additional comments could be perceived as less than positive. Commissioner Denahan was very impressed with all of the candidates and any one of them could come into Boynton Beach and accomplish the City's vision. Motion Commissioner Denahan moved that we select Kurt Bressner for the City Manager position for the City of Boynton Beach. Commissioner Weiland seconded the motion that carried 4-1. (Vice Mayor Tillman dissented.) AD3OURN_ _ MENT There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Commissioner Denahan moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Weiland seconded the motion. The meeting properly adjourned at 5:10 p.m. CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH A-~I'EST City (~erk f~eJ~uty City Clerk k-~rhree 90-minute Tapes) Mayor Pro Tem Commissioner Commissioner 16