Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 12-22-08 special minutes — reading text

79 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA REPLACEMENT PROCESS TO HIRE NEW CITY MANAGER DECEMBER 22, 2008 INTRODUCTION A special meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Monday, December 22, 2008 at 6: 30 p. m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, with the following members present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes; Virgil Miller; Dennis Reeves; Bill Garvie, Dr. Wayne Pullen, Jim Hartwell, and Mike Minich Also Present: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Brandy Wunker, Finance Director; Toni Craig, City Attorney; Department Directors PURPOSE The purpose of this meeting is consideration of a request for Council direction for the replacement process to hire a new City Manager. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. He requested anyone who wished to address Council to approach the podium after being recognized, and then state his or her name and address for the record. PLEDGE The Mayor led in the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Minich moved to reverse the order of Items 1A, City Council move to appoint an acting City Manager, and 1 B, City Council move to direct Staff to proceed with Recruitment Schedule Alternative # 1 or #2 or an amended version of either. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. Mr. Minich explained his thought that the process of the recruitment schedule for the City Manager should be discussed as the first order of business. Mr. Hartwell amended the motion to have Item 1A as the last order of business. Mr. Minich seconded the amendment. Mr. Miller discussed the matter of Council not taking action on the resignation of the City Manager, and was advised that there is no requirement in the Charter or the City Manager' s contract regarding acceptance of the resignation. The City Attorney advised that discussion is out of the realm of the motion on the floor. The Mayor called for the vote on the amended motion to have Item 1A, City Council move to appoint an acting City Manager, as the last order of business, and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. Dr. Pullen moved to amend the agenda by adding an item to accept the resignation of the City Manager and to change the effective date from January 16, 2009 to January 15, 2009, as the first order of business. Mr. Miller seconded motion. Dr. Pullen stated his opinion that accepting the resignation of the City Manager would make it more official, and he also stated that the resignation letter is dated December 17, 2008, and 30 days from that date is January 15, 2009, rather than January 16, 2009, as dated in the City Manager' s resignation letter. 80 Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 APPROVAL OF AGENDA ( CONT) Discussion ensued regarding the effective date of the City Manager' s resignation letter, and the City Attorney advised the motion is to accept the resignation of the City Manager, and the dates of the letter will be discussed if the motion passed. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion to amend the agenda to add the acceptance of the resignation of the City Manager and it failed by a vote of 2 to 5 with Miller and Pullen in favor and Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Hartwell, and Minich opposed. Mr. Miller called a legal point of order stating the City has a signed contract with the City Manager and questioned how Council could discuss the contract without voting for different terms of the contract. The City Manager advised that at the December 9, 2008 meeting, the Council agreed through a vote and motion, to accept a 30- day notice rather than a 60- day notice for her resignation, and reminded that Mr. Miller was not present at that meeting. Mr. Miller advised he read the minutes. Mr. Minich called for a point of order stating Mr. Miller' s legal point of order requires a ruling from the Chair. The Mayor stated he did not see the need for Mr. Miller' s legal point of order and clarified that Council did amend the contract at the December 9th Council meeting to allow the City Manager to give a 30- day notice, and that the contract states it can be amended by the vote of Council. Mr. Miller requested a legal interpretation from the City Attorney. Mr. Minich stated the ruling was made by the Mayor and asked that the discussion move forward. The Mayor asked the City Attorney for her legal opinion, to make absolutely sure the contract has been legally amended. The City Attorney responded that it is her legal opinion that what has occurred so far is legally acceptable; that at the last meeting Council accepted a 30- day notice, and the question was when the 30- day notice started. The Mayor stated his ruling there is no legal point of order and asked that the discussion move on. The City Attorney advised that the Council has the decision as to when the acting city manager will be appointed and that the resignation date stated in the resignation letter could be changed if Council decided to, but she could not state specifically whether that would be a violation of the contract. The Mayor advised he wanted to proceed with the agenda as presented. Mr. Minich moved to amend Roberts Rules of Order to eliminate the need for a motion in order to have Council discussion. Mr. Garvie seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. CONSIDERTION OF RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE Consideration of Recruitment Schedule for the selection of a new City Manager. Mark Wiltsie, Human Resources Director, explained the two Recruitment Schedule alternatives. The first alternative would be to, immediately following tonight's meeting, fast track the recruitment process to ensure the current Council members appoint a new City Manager. The closing date for receipt of applications for this alternative is February 6, 2009.  81 Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE ( CONT) Mr. Wiltsie said the second alternative provides the recruitment schedule to be designed to advertise and recruit for the position and provide for the selection process to occur after April 1, 2009, and would provide the City Council members seated at that time to participate in the selection, appointment, and contract negotiations. The closing date for receipt of applications for this alternative is May 12, 2009. Discussion ensued on the fact that a recruitment schedule for an external recruiter cannot be determined; what is being suggested is that a schedule be provided by the City to an external recruiter, either Alternative 1 or Alternative 2, and that an acceptance of one of the alternatives does not eliminate the possibility of an external hiring firm. Dr. Pullen discussed a scenario, for Council' s consideration if they chose, that the position of City Manager be advertised for a certain period of time, perhaps until the middle of February, and that all applications be maintained by the City Clerk' s office, or whoever Council designated, and that the applications be distributed among Council to shortlist in their own minds, and that the in- coming Council be involved in providing their opinion to individual Council members so they have a say in the selection during the discussion when the selection is being made, but that the current Council have the final vote. Dr. Pullen stated if Council thought that was a good idea, dates could be determined. The City Attorney expressed concern as to when the Sunshine Law applies to Council- elect, but believed there would be an issue after the election and before they take a seat, during the timeframe that is being discussed. Mr. Hartwell commented that the Council is hiring a City Manager for all the citizens of the City and not for the incoming Council, and that to say the Council is hiring for the incoming Council is the wrong attitude, since Council represents the citizens of the City and not the incoming Council. Secondly, Mr. Hartwell commented that the Council was elected to govern using the form of government the City has, that the City Council hires the City Manager, not a pool of citizens with their inputs and down selecting. Thirdly, Mr. Hartwell commented that he does not want to see the corporate knowledge of the existing Council lost, and this Council should hire the City Manager, as it takes a year or longer for a Council to understand the workings of the City. Mr. Minich disagreed with Mr. Hartwell on the last comment he made, stating that he has heard Council members state they did not care what previous Council's decided, and he does not want to see the next City Manager subject to that type of thinking. Mr. Minich believed the incoming Council should be the ones to hire their City Manager, not the current Council. Mr. Reeves echoed his agreement with Mr. Minich and would rather invest the time into the selection process to ensure the best individual is selected for the job rather than hurry it along. Mr. Garvie agreed that the incoming Council should have the opportunity to select the new City Manager. Dr. Pullen added that the present Council could shortlist the candidates and the incoming Council could still make the decision. Dr. Pullen also felt it is important to establish whether the screening process will be done internally or through an outside hiring firm. The Mayor clarified the alternatives being discussed are assuming the process will be done internally. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. Kabe Woods, 240 Brooks Street, requested that Council not rush in their decision as it is an important decision for both the individual being considered and for those making the selection, and suggested that Alternative 2 would be the wise decision. 82 Special Council 12/ 22/ 08 RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE ( CONT) As no one else wished to speak public input was closed. Mr. Minich moved to proceed with Recruitment Schedule Alternative 2, designed to advertise and recruit for the position and provide for the selection process to occur after April 1 , 2009 to provide that the City Council members seated at that time would participate in the selection, appointment, and contract negotiations, and for the hiring date to be May 12, 2009, the first meeting in May. Mr. Holmes seconded motion. Mr. Minich explained his thought that the date of May 12 will give the incoming Council the opportunity to have a few meetings under their belt before going through the hiring process. Mr. Holmes stated that after April 2, 2009, the Council will be able to contact the outgoing Council to discuss the list of candidates and that the corporate knowledge will still be available, and that the process should not be