Okaloosa County BOCC — November 4, 2012 — Colin Baenziger — reading text

Searches – Human Services Assistant County Administrator for Human Services, Hillsborough County, FL (population 1,000,055) in 2004 Director, Health and Human Services, St. Johns County, FL (population 162,000) in 2010 Executive Director, Juvenile Welfare Board, Pinellas County, FL (population 950,000) in 2005 B-6  Governmental Search Assignments (continued) Completed Searches – Information Technology Information Technology Director, Lakeland, FL (population 87,000) in 2004 Information Services Director, Lauderdale Lakes, FL (population 32,000) in 1998 Information Services Director, Palm Beach County Tax Collector (population 1,300,000) in 2012 (partial search) Completed Searches – Parks/Recreation/Libraries Director, Parks, Recreation, & Conservation, Hillsborough County, FL (pop. 1,000,055) in 2004 District Manager, Holiday Park Recreation District (population 1,400) in 2007 Library Services Director, St. Johns County, FL (population 162,000) in 2007 Director, Parks and Recreation, West Palm Beach, FL in 2006 Completed Searches – Public Safety Fire Chief, Daytona Beach, FL (population 65,000) in 2006 Fire Chief, Lauderdale Lakes, FL (population 32,000) in 1999 Fire Chief, West Palm Beach, FL (population 89,000) in 2005 Police Chief, Daytona Beach, FL (population 65,000) in 2006 Police Chief, Golden Beach, FL (population 355) in 2011 (partial search) Police Chief, Lauderhill, FL (population 66,900) in 2011 (partial search) Police Chief, Melbourne, FL (population 76,000) in 2011 (partial search) Police Chief, Sewall’s Point, FL (population 2,000) in 2007 Police Chief, Sunny Isles Beach, FL (population 17000) in 2010 Completed Searches – Public Works Public Works Director / Capital Projects Manager / City Engineer, Sunny Isles Beach, FL (population 17,000) in 2007 Assistant Public Works Director, Sunny Isles Beach, FL (population 17,000) in 2008 Public Works Director, Fort Lauderdale, FL (population 183,000) in 2004 Executive Director, Environment and Infrastructure, Pinellas County, FL (population 917,000) in 2012 Public Works Director, Polk County, FL (population 500,000) in 2005 Public Works Director, Chandler, AZ (population 250,000) in 2007 Public Works Director, Tamarac, FL (population 55,500) in 2003 Solid Waste Director, Hillsborough County, FL (population 1,000,055) in 2005 Vice President, Public Works & Operations, Ocean Reef Community Association (pop. 2,000), Key Largo, FL, in 2001 B-7  Governmental Search Assignments (continued) Completed Searches – Transportation Chief Financial Officer, Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, FL (population 1,000,055) in 2005 Director of Traffic Engineering, Polk County, FL (population 500,000) in 2002 Executive Director, Lakeland Area Mass Transit District, FL (population 87,000) in 2005 Executive Director, Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, FL (population 1,000,055) in 2007 Completed Searches – Utilities Environmental Services Director, Largo, FL (population 74,000) in 2006 Executive Director, Des Moines (IA) Water Works (serves a population of over 500,000) in 2012 Executive Director, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, Key West, FL (pop. 90,000) in 2003 Executive Director, Escambia County Utilities Authority, FL (90,000 customers) in 2002 Executive Director, Onslow Water & Sewer Authority (Jacksonville, NC) (pop. 160,000) in 2009 General Manager/CEO, Orlando Utilities Commission, FL (190,000 customers) in 2004 General Manager, Tampa Bay Water (population served 2,400,000) in 2008 Utilities Director, Charlotte County, FL (population 170,000) in 2007 Utilities Director, Daytona Beach, FL (population 65,000) in 2004 Utilities Director, Lake Worth, FL (population 30,000) in 2009 Utilities Director, Palm Bay, FL (population 101,000) in 2005 Executive Director, Environment and Infrastructure, Pinellas County, FL (population 917,000) in 2012 Utilities Director, Polk County, FL (population 500,000) in 2004 Water (Wastewater) Resources Director, St. Petersburg, FL (population 248,000) in 2008 Watershed Management (Water and Wastewater) Director, DeKalb County, GA (population 691,900) in 2011 Completed Searches – Work Force Management Executive Director, South Florida Workforce, FL (service area pop. of 3,000,000+) in 2005 Director, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, Durham, NC (pop. on 220,000), 2009 Completed Searches – Other City Clerk, Lauderdale Lakes (population 32,000) in 1998 Community Development District Manager, Severn Trent, FL in 2005 Director, Registrations and Elections, Fulton County, GA (population 992,000) in 2009 Environmental Resources Director, St. Lucie County, FL (population 261,000) in 2009 Executive Director, Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority (population 15,000) in 2011 Executive Director, Northern Palm Beach Improvement District, Palm Beach Gardens, FL (population 200,000) in 2003 General Manager, Sun ‘n Lake Improvement District, FL (population 7,500) in 2002 and 2005 General Manager, Holiday Park Recreation District, FL (population 4,500) in 2007 Special Projects Coordinator, Islamorada, Village of Islands, FL (population 7,500) in 1998 B-8  Appendix C Sample Brochure: County Administrator - Hernando County C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8  Appendix D Sample Candidate Report  Sample Candidate Report [Note: The following materials are provided with the permission of the candidate.]  TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE RESUME 1 CB&A INTERVIEW 5 BACKGROUND CHECKS 11 REFERENCE NOTES 13 INTERNET SEARCH 28 Christopher Morrill Resume -1- -2- -3- Christopher Morrill CB&A Interview -4- Christopher Morrill Education Master of Public Administration, University of North Carolina Bachelor of Arts, College of the Holy Cross Experience Assistant City Manager, City of Savannah, GA 2001 – Present Senior Municipal Finance Advisor, Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC 1999 – 2001 Research and Budget Director, City of Savannah, GA 1994 – 1999 Peace Corps Volunteer, Ukraine 1992 – 1994 City of Savannah, GA 1988 - 1992 Research and Budget Director (two years) and Senior Management Analyst (two years) Senior Budget Analyst, Catawba County, NC 1986 – 1988 Downtown Project Manager, Lynn, MA 1984 – 1985 Background The population of Savannah is 143,000 people. The City has 2,600 employees and Mr. Morrill supervises 220. The total budget is $280 million while the general fund component is $180 million. The three most important issues that face Savannah:  Financial impact of the recession. Revenues have declined yet the demand for services remains high;  Citizen engagement. Citizen participation in local government, and indeed awareness of what it is doing, has declined. Governments need to find new ways to engage and inform their residents; and  Balancing the economic development with environmental goals while maintaining a high quality of life. Interview Comments Mr. Morrill has been an Assistant City Manager for eight years in Savannah, GA. Although he feels no need to leave his position, he sees the City Manager position in Roanoke as an opportunity that he cannot pass up. Roanoke is a progressive community and has some of the same challenges Savannah has. He notes that over the past 20 years, Savannah has made many significant changes for the better and he wants to bring not just his skills, but what he has learned, to Roanoke. He feels he can make a difference and help Roanoke become not just a better city but a better community. From a personal point of view, it is also one of few cities Mr. Morrill would consider moving to and living in. He enjoys the mountains and would be closer to family. -5- Christopher Morrill On a day to day basis, Mr. Morrill’s management style is to promote collaboration. Teamwork and unity is important. He empowers his staff to accomplish their goals but provides the guidance to be successful. He is not a micromanager but gives his staff both the responsibility to get the job done but also the authority. Accountability is important as well. In times of crisis, Mr. Morrill will take full command and make the decisions that are necessary. He has a good understanding of when it is appropriate to guide and when he must lead. Employees who have worked with Mr. Morrill would say he is enjoyable to work with and is a good mentor. He guides his staff and helps them develop. As they set priorities together, he is there to give them the resources and support they need. They would also note that it is not just business. He has a good sense of humor and attempts to make the workplace pleasant. Finally, he feels it is important to celebrate their successes. The elected officials would say Mr. Morrill is a strong leader. He is proactive, assesses problems quickly and resolves them. He is a good manager and a team player. With the downturn of the economy, Mr. Morrill has taken more of a leadership role. Everyone recognizes that finance is one of his specialties and they tend to lean towards him for advice. He closely monitors the budget and keeps the elected officials well informed of the City’s financial status. Mr. Morrill’s greatest strength is in financial planning. He has a strong finance background and is well experienced with budgets. In fact, he served as a resident advisor to the National Treasury of South Africa for about two years. He knows how to build a strong management and financial team. He enjoys learning, tackling new problems and resolving issues. He listens to people so he can understand their issues and learn from them. He is patient and sympathetic. In terms of weakness, Mr. Morrill recognizes he focuses more on the big picture than the details. To combat this, he surrounds himself with good people who are detail oriented. By doing this, they help him see the details. It also allows him the freedom to pursue the projects and efforts that he and the City Manager feel will lead to improving Savannah. Mr. Morrill’s biggest achievement has been a recent budgeting change in Savannah. Specifically he introduced a new budgeting philosophy called Budgeting for Outcomes to the staff and the City County. He had learned about the approach at a government finance conference in 2007 and thought it would be particularly appropriate in difficult financial times. The idea is to allocate funding to those services that are a priority to the residents instead of focusing on cuts in each department. As such, the City focuses on funding the services with the greatest positive outcomes. It took some effort but he has now educated the staff and Council. Everyone has embraced the idea and last January the Council set the City’s seven priorities for the next year. Then teams were created to address the priority teams. In all it involved 70 employees from different departments serving on seven teams. These teams have researched best practices from across the nation and followed examples in Washington and Iowa where the same philosophy has been implemented. They are ninety percent the way through the conversion. The result has been that they have found ways to maintain the core services and reduce