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07-24-99 vMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS AT 5:00 PM ON MONDAY, JULY 24, 1999 Present were: Suzanne Shaughnessy, Mayor Richard Beaver, City Commissioner Mike Borno, City Commissioner John Meserve, City Commissioner Theo Mitchelson, City Commissioner Also Present: Robert Slavin, of Slavin Management Consultants David E. Thompson, City Manager Maureen King, City Clerk The meeting was held for the purpose of interviewing applicants for the position of Atlantic Beach City Manager. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Shaughnessy who invited Robert Slavin to make a brief presentation. Mr. Slavin reported that two of the candidates, Sanford Youkilis and Timothy Zisoff, had scheduling conflicts but were still interested in the position. He had visited each of the short listed candidates and presented five candidates for consideration by the City Commission. He said his firm had conducted checks on criminal history, driving records, credit history, education, references, etc. Mr. Slavin indicated that one hour was allotted for each interview, following which the candidates would be available to meet with Commissioners individually if the Commissioners so desired. DOUGLAS R. MILLER Mr. Miller gave a brief overview of his work experience in Snow Hill, Maryland, a town with a population of approximately 2,300,where he was the Town Manager from 1984 to 1988. Snow Hill provided municipal services such water, sewer, police, planning and zoning. The town had a Strong Mayor form of government and had approximately 30 employees. Mr. Miller also served as Town Manager of LaPlata, Maryland, which had a City Manager/Council form of government, and had approximately 52 employees. Mr. Miller summarized his experience with public works projects and said LaPlata was in the process of expanding their wastewater treatment plant and changing the treatment process; they had constructed a new well, and developed a regional stormwater management facility. He said he had also been involved in a project to separate water and wastewater lines, and said, because of the size of the staff, he had a hands-on involvement in these projects. Mr. Miller also handled human resources activities, and said that LaPlata and Snow Hill were both non-union towns. Mr. Miller said he had learned as much as he could about Atlantic Beach through the Internet and through local newspapers. He said he felt the city was well run and he did not feel there were any internal issues he needed to be aware of. He was aware of the City's pending stormwater improvement project. Page Two Minutes - Interviews of City Manager Candidates July 24, 1999 Mr. Miller said he had visited Atlantic Beach in 1996 and liked the area. Also, he said that being hired as the City Manager for Atlantic Beach,would provide him with a career opportunity to manage a larger city. He said he also had enjoyed a good relationship with county and other governmental agencies in the past. It would take time to develop such relationships in this area, but he would make a point of getting to know his counterparts in the area as well as key people in regulatory agencies. He said he had communicated with the community through the cable television and by putting the agendas on the Internet. Mr. Miller said that while he believed in open government, he felt that there were probably some parts of Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law that would be difficult to deal with. In response to a question on how he would deal with the strong influence of people who are not directly involved in the day to day operations of the city, Mr. Miller responded that first, he would listen, because such individuals may have good ideas. Also, he would communicate to them the reasons why certain decisions were made. He felt such people usually based their opinions on partial information. In response to a question regarding Mr. Miller's experience with retrofit projects, Mr. Miller responded that Snow Hill had no potential for growth but he explained that he had been involved in the down town revitalization project. Grants had been acquired for this work. Mr. Miller said he is currently involved in a project to expand a wastewater treatment plant and is upgrading the storm drainage in LaPlata, and indicated that he had had hands-on experience in both of these projects. Mr Miller said he relies on his department heads to conduct the day to day operations of their departments, but is always available to department heads and citizens. He said he supports the majority vote of the City Commission, even though he may not personally agree with that position. Mr. Miller said that his city has a web page, and correspondence by e-mail comes through the City Manager's office. Mr. Miller also said he has no problem with taking business calls at home. In response to a question from the Mayor,Mr. Miller said he was able to improve working conditions and boost morale of the employees. He said the city had adopted a motto of "Service is our Business" and he was proud to see this motto in operation. Regarding voice mail, he said that after hours callers would get a menu for handling emergencies, but during business hours, telephones were answered by employees. Mr. Miller said that growth had become a significant issue in LaPlata and Commission Meetings were well attended. Regarding poor performance of employees,Mr. Miller said concerns should be clearly outlined, set performance goals, and if necessary, make a change. He said he communicates with his current City Commission by holding two workshops per month; also by telephone and E-mail. Page Three Minutes - Interviews of City Manager Candidates July 24, 1999 JAMES HANSON Mr. Hanson summarized his career with the City of LaGrange, Georgia, a city which had a population of 26,000, and which provided, electric, sewer, water and gas services. He worked for LaGrange as Administrative Assistant, Assistant City Manager, and on the retirement of the City Manager, was appointed to that position and served as the City Manager from 1982 - 1994. During this time the city experienced very rapid growth and expanded the water and sewer systems, and because of utility profits and the consolidation of the city and county school systems, property tax was almost eliminated. After his tenure with LaGrange, he worked for the Marietta Board of Lights and Water where he was employed for four and a half years. Mr. Hanson said that LaGrange had a staff of about 450 and the Board of Lights and Water had a staff of about 200. He said they did not have a union in LaGrange and indicated he, personally, hired staff and while he had a hand in what when on, he let them"run their own show." He said LaGrange had a Council/Manager form of government and indicated he likes to hear from elected officials at least weekly, and probably would communicate more often than that with the Mayor. Mr. Hanson said he had learned about Atlantic Beach through materials he had received from the City Clerk. He said he had been in town a few days and thanked the Atlantic Beach staff for their assistance. He thanked the City Manager for showing him around the city. He listed several pending projects such as the flyover, road and drainage projects of which he was aware. He was also aware of the recent acquisition of park lands and the city's sensitivity to the environment. He said that many cities had enacted legislation to protect the environment after the damage has been done but he felt that Atlantic Beach had taken steps to protect the environment before it was too late and noted, particularly, the large number of mature oak trees. When asked why he wanted to come to Atlantic Beach he said that Atlantic Beach seemed to provide a good family environment, and was not a major city. He liked working with people he likes and felt he could get things done in this city. Mr. Hanson said he has enjoyed good relationships with other governmental agencies. He said he also has experience in getting government and corporate grants and would also look within the organization for additional savings, by testing water meters, etc. Regarding communicating unfiltered information to citizens Mr. Hanson said he had used newsletters, utility billing stuffers, and radio stations for this purpose in the past. Mr. Hanson said he has focused strongly on customer service and has used surveys extensively in the past. He felt that an initial survey provides a benchmark and once goals and objectives have been established by the City Commission,then the city should be run like a business. He gave a specific example of how efficiency Page Four Minutes - Interviews of City Manager Candidates July 24, 1999 had been improved in the city garage through the use of a survey and by always trying to improve on the quality of service provided. He said this was one of the projects of which he was most proud, because it changed the culture and the thinking within the department, and the changes came from the employees. Mr. Hanson said he had established an extensive fiber optic computer network in Marietta, which included three AS-400 computers and about 260 personal computers. With respect to Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law, he felt that Florida law was more open than he had been used to, particularly in the area of personnel. However, he was used to operating within the public records law and anticipated no problems. With regards to receiving telephone calls at home, Mr. Hanson said that he hoped telephone calls to his home would be of an emergency nature; however, he realized his job was to serve the public and he would be polite and professional to callers. Mr. Hanson said he had extensive experience in Public Works projects and he could get things built on time and within budget, and hopefully, without too many complaints. Regarding his expected tenure with the City of Atlantic Beach,Mr. Hanson responded that he had a history of staying in one place and said he did not like to move. Regarding communications with elected officials, he said that he would like to meet with elected officials, one-on-one, at least once a week. In response to a question from the Mayor as to how Mr. Hanson felt about lobbying City Commissioner,Mr. Hanson responded that he felt it was his job to provide all the information to the City Commission, so that they could make decisions. CHARLES SADDLER Mr. Saddle gave an overview of his experience with Polk County, Florida, where he had served as the Human Services Director,and prior to that,as the Environmental Management Director. He had also served as the City Manager of the City of Fort Meade, Florida, with a population of 5000 from 1985 to 1993. Mr. Saddler said he had extensive experience with public works projects. He had learned about Atlantic Beach by driving around the area. He said he felt Atlantic Beach had a strong sense of community pride and valued it's quality of life, but felt that the commercial area was not being used to its highest and best potential. Regarding aggressive citizens or Commissioners, Mr. Saddler said it was important to listen to them and to build a good rapport. He also felt that communication was important. Page Five Minutes - Interviews of City Manager Candidates July 24, 1999 Regarding his interest in coming to Atlantic Beach, Mr. Saddler said he felt the work at the county level, and in human services,was somewhat frustrating and he was interested in getting back into City Management. He said he would work to develop good relationships with county and regulatory agencies. In response to a question regarding how he would generate additional funds, he said he was a believer in user fees. With respect to communicating unfiltered information to citizens, Mr. Saddler said in the past he has spoken to various citizens and civic groups. Also he favored putting City news on the Internet. He said he was familiar with Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law. While there were times he might rather not have it, he felt it was a good law and believed in open government. Mr. Saddler said that Government cannot always do everything that citizens want, but cities need to work hard to be competitive and should try to run things like a business. He explained a project of which he was particularly proud. He said that they had built seven acres of wetlands by reusing wastewater, and in remained in operation for several years. Regarding his experience with computers, Mr. Saddler said that he was mostly self-taught. He was III interested in fiber optics and networking but he was usually not involved in setting up the systems. He felt that receiving telephone calls at home was just part of the job. With regard to a difficult or unproductive employee,Mr. Saddler said that he would talk to the employee and set goals, and if the goals were not met, he would not have any difficulty replacing that employee. When asked how he would encourage citizen participation he said that he had done so in the past through meeting with civic organizations and mailings. In response to a question from the Mayor, Mr. Saddler said he did not see anything wrong with lobbing the City Commission. The City Commission establishes policy but he felt the City Manager would be in a position to provide all the information to the City Commission and should help to steer them in the right direction. In response to a question regarding whether Atlantic Beach could expect Mr. Saddler to stay here for a reasonable length of time, Mr. Saddler said that his resume showed, he did not move around often. Following the interviews the Mayor called a recess. The meeting reconvened at 1:10 p.m. and Commissioner Meserve said he felt the City Commission could make a selection from the three candidates they had seen. Commissioner Mitchelson said he would also like to see the other two candidates who could not come today. He felt that since they were included in the top five, the City 4111 Commission should interview them, and he wanted to make sure that the best candidate was selected for the job. Following brief discussion, a meeting was scheduled for August 4 to interview Mr. Youkilis and Mr. Zisoff Page Six Minutes - Interviews of City Manager Candidates July 24, 1999 Regarding when the City could expect to have the new City Manager on board, Mr. Slavin said that it would probably take between 30 and 45 days. Discussion ensued regarding whether the City Manager would be required to reside in Atlantic Beach. The Mayor checked the language of the Charter and it was apparent that the City Manager must reside in the city during his tenure as City Manager. It was agreed to include an item on the City Commission agenda for their meeting of August 9,to select a City Manager and to authorize the City Manager to negotiate a contract. There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m. Maureen King Certified Municipal Clerk i