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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-09-10 - City Commission Special Meeting Minutes0 Lj MAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC, F LOR I DA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 August 16, 1985 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, September 10, 1985 at 2:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of the meeting is to interview the candidates for the position of City Manager. A further Notice will follow listing the candidates and the approximate times of their interviews. The public is invited to attend. Carol E. Barbuto Assistant City Clerk Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings and for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS MAIL REPLY TO: P.O. BOX 25010 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33320 5811 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321 TELEPHONE (305) 722-5900 September 4, 1985 (Revised) NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, September 10, 1985 at 2:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 5811 NW 88 Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of the meeting is to interview the following candidates for the position of City Manager: Kenneth R. Hammons 2:00 P.M. James R. O'Connor 2:30 P.M. James John Smith 3:00 P.M. Nancy Ciummo 3:30 P.M. Frank R. Spence 4:00 P.M. Council may consider and act upon such other business as may come before it. The public is invited to attend. 4F me,�Z� Carol E. Barbuto Assistant City Clerk Pursuant to Section 286.0105, Florida Statutes If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the city Council with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings and for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS CITY OF TAMARAC SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING INTERVIEW OF CANDIDATES FOR CITY MANAGER POSITION SEPTEMBER 10, 1985 Tape CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz called the meeting 1 to order on Tuesday, September 10, 1985 at 2:00 P.M. in Council Chambers. Mayor Kravitz read the Notice of Special Meeting into the record. HQLL QALL: PRESENT: Mayor Philip B. Kravitz Vice Mayor Helen Massaro Councilman Arthur H. Gottesman Councilman Raymond J. Munitz ABSENT: Councilman Sydney M. Stein ALSO PRESENT: Acting City Manager, Larry Perretti City Attorney, Jon Henning Secretary, V. Diane Williams Mayor Kravitz asked Acting City Manager Larry Perretti to serve as moderator. Mr. Perretti introduced each candidate and informed that he would ask each 10 questions (see attached), after which, each Council member would ask questions. The Acting City Manager informed that the first candidate, Kenneth R. Hammons, was unable to attend due to an illness in his family. JAmes R. O'Connor,1025 'v rtoFlorida In response to Question #1 - Mr. O'Connor answered that his management style could be related to private industry because he has worked very closely with civic clubs and the Chamber of Commerce. He felt that local government should be a com- bination of private and public coordination and cooperation. Mr. O'Connor viewed the Manager/Mayor/Council form of govern- ment as the Mayor being Chairman of the Board of the corporation and the members of Council would be considered as directors of the board. He expressed that the actions and responsibilities that he took, as well as those of Council, would be reflected on both parties and would be a cooperative effort in the operation of the city. Response to Question #2 - Mr. O'Connor said that he has a very outgoing personality and that he enjoys people that is why he is in this type of business. He said he viewed himself as a hard worker dedicating the time necessary in order to get the job done. Mr. O'Connor said his motto is, "I'll do what it takes". Reply to Question #3 - Mr. O'Connor said that he was hopeful that the services rendered would reflect what he could do and how he could do it. He said municipal services, whether for retirees or working residents, demand the best of services and the city should deliver. 1 1 9/10/85 /vdw Response to Question #4 - James O'Connor said his first direction would be to meet with all department heads and explain his style and philosophy of what he expects from de- partment heads and added that job security would not be a problem. Mr. O'Connor stated that the department heads that he inherited when he became City Manager of Bartow are still intact with the exception of a few who left of their own accord. He said he would operate under the premise that they were running a private business and that the customer is always right and try to work out a solution to all conflicts that may occur. Mr. O'Connor said after the initial meeting with all department heads, he would meet with them individually and also with each employee to familiarize them with his name and face and explain to them that if they had personal problems or any other type of problems on their jobs that he would like to hear about them either through their department heads or the employees themselves. Reply to Question #4 - Mr. O'Connor answered that the City of Bartow has approximately seven different boards all of a voluntary nature whereby no one receives monetary compen- sation. He said he tries to meet with each board and give input acting as a liaison between the Commission and the respective boards. Response to Question #5 - Mr. O'Connor answered that it was a tossup between utilities and personnel/labor relations as he has put in a lot of effort on that in Bartow because the Teamsters' Union represent the Police and Fire as well as a Government Employees Union which represents all the other general employees outside of secretaries, department heads and division chiefs. He said he has been successful in avoiding conflicts between management and the labor unions. Mr. O'Connor cited utilities as one of the reasons that he took the position as City Manager of Bartow in order to expand his base on municipal utility. Mr. O'Connor said the budgetary process would be his weakest point when it comes to establishing priorities in regards to the Commission. Mr. O'Connor indi- cated that he had a tough time disallowing what he felt were priority jobs. He expressed that getting things done was something he enjoyed doing and the budget process limits this somewhat. Reply to Question #6 - Mr. O'Connor said in the City of Bartow they have had several accomplishments that have been meaningful: (1) centralization of Public Works; (2) decreased acquisition of new equipment resulting in substantial savings; (3) combined Parks and Environmental Services into Parks and Recreation; (4) consolidated Internal Services which consists of Motor Pool, Purchasing, Personnel, Finance and Warehousing. Response to Question #7 - Mr. O'Connor said he is facing his most controversial situation now in the City of Bartow with the construction of a new bank. He said, according to State Law, they are required to have retention ponds and the location of this bank is backed up to a residential area and the retention pond is supposed to go into a 40- foot easement which the city does not own but has ingress and egress and they are trying to work out a solution. Mr. O'Connor said he has not really had a major conflict. 2 9/10/85 /vdw Response to Question #8 -- Mr. O'Connor said the length of tenure depended on how much the City of Tamarac likes him, and, secondly, how his family adjusts to the environment because he has never lived in. South. Florida. He said the cultural benefits are very great and the schools are very good but he could not tell them the expected length of tenure. Mr. O'Connor said he would be looking for a salary in the neighborhood of $54,500. He said he would expect his health insurance to be paid by the city for individual and family health coverage. Mr. O'Connor stated he would.also need a leased vehicle, at his disposal, for his use. He requested that the city pay all moving expenses. Mr. O'Connor said he would also like a Contract of Employment with one of the terms stipulating that if he is terminated for reasons other than malfeasance that there would be a six months' separation pay at the annual salary set by the Commission. Response to Question #9 - Mr. O'Connor said the present budget in the City of Bartow was $18,000,000.00. He said out of that total, $10,000,000.00 would be derived from electric. He said they have their own electric system whereby they purchase wholesale from Florida Power and Light (through their membership with FMPA) and resale. Response to Question #10 - Mr. O'Connor answered that the present millage rate in the City of Bartow is .938. Mr. O'Connor said the residents pay $5.80 at the present for garbage pickup; however, the City Commission is considering increasing that amount to $8.00 which includes backyard gar- bage pickup and any volume of trash that is placed in the front. C/M Munitz stated that it was his opinion that no man can be successful in his job unless his wife is happy in what he is doing and asked Mrs. O'Connor how she felt about moving and living in Tamarac. Mrs. O'Connor said she needed to get acquainted with it better. C/M Munitz asked Mrs. O'Connor if she was with her husband 100%. Mrs. O'Connor answered that she would not be here if she were not. Mr. Perretti injected that Mrs. O'Connor's family lives in Boca so she is familiar with this area. C/M Munitz asked who were the external auditors of Bartow. Mr. O'Connor replied that Reed Peasley are the external auditors out of Tampa. C/M Munitz asked if they were a national firm. Mr. O'Connor answered that they were not a national firm. C/M Munitz asked what surplus funds, if any, does Bartow . have available with the .9 millage and garbage collection and so on. Mr. O'Connor said they do not have surplus funds but operate on the philosophy that they are not a banking institution and revenues generated are applied to Capital Projects. He summarized that it was a "pay--as--you--go operation". C/M Munitz inquired if Bartow had investment funds. Mr. O'Connor said they invest on the payment of their utilities and explained that Monday of this week they took in $200,000 in utilities collections and these funds are invested as they come in. 3 9/10/85 /vdw C/M Munitz asked the types of investments. Mr. O'Connor said most of the investments have been CD's and liquid --type investments and have not made any stock investments except through the Pension Plan but noted that they have outside advisers who give them recommendations as to investments of the Pension Plan. C/M Munitz inquired the ages of Mr. O'Connor's children. Mr. O'Connor replied 11 and 7. C/M Munitz said he knew of very few cities that have a Charter Board as well as manager form of government and asked if he had any knowledge or experience with an elected Charter Board. Mr. O'Connor responded that he did not have any personal experience but only the information which he has read about Tamarac and discussions with Mr. Perretti. C/M Munitz said that when Mr. Perretti asked the question about the "watchdog" relationship, Mr. O'Conner mentioned groups that were directly appointed, he assumed, by the City Council, although they were voluntary, and nonpaying; he said he believed Mr. Perretti was referring to a citizens' "watchdog" group that would be very much interested and aware of what the City Council, Charter Board and City Manager and his staff would be doing. C/M Munitz said Mr. O'Connor's answer was not in that direction but was referring strictly to those voluntary commissions appointed by the City Council to do various functions related to the City Council's responsibility. Mr. O'Connor concurred and added that they have the Polk County Taxpayers' Committee which is homebased in Bartow. He said their closest scrutiny is that of the press because they do not have a Charter Board and added that he has not worked under a Charter Board but added that he does not really see a conflict there. C/M Munitz stated that when the Acting City Manager tried to pinpoint him on certain areas that he felt were his weakest, he mentioned budget preparation and asked him what has been his experience in the financial area as City Manager. Mr. O'Connor replied just in municipal government. He explained that in the City of Mulberry he functioned as a Finance Director because it was such a small city. C/M Munitz asked if the City of Bartow had a Finance Director. Mr. O'Connor responded that the City of Mulberry did not have a Finance Director but the City of Bartow has always had a Finance Director. C/M Munitz reserved the right to ask additional questions. C/M Gottesman said Mr. O'Connor mentioned that he has an 18.7 million dollar budget of which 10 million goes towards the operation of the electrical plant, and asked if he was to assume that the electrical plant makes a profit and pays for itself. 4 9/10/85 /vdw Mr. O'Connor said they do not have an electrical plant but buy wholesale and sell retail. He said the answer to the question was yes, they contribute somewhere around 20% to the General Fund Operating Budget. C/M Gottesman, said, in other words, the 10 million dollars buying the outside electricity, he would get back 20% above that as a profit that goes into the remaining 8.75 million dollar budget. Mr. O'Connor concurred and said that they anticipate a transfer of approximately 1,000,007 next year. C/M Gottesman referenced that the millage of .98 was very low and asked if they have a special type tax rate. Mr. O'Connor said the millage was .938 per thousand or 94 cents per thousand. He said the philosophy of the Commission has been to get out of the taxing business and more into the service fee business, i.e., they charge on their utilities and services the fees to operate the city. Therefore, they can relate the service that the residents are getting to the costs that they are paying. Mr. O'Connor said property taxes were very intangible and that it was very difficult to say that a person was getting two police cars at this house as opposed to one because a person has a very valuable house. C/M Gottesman asked what encompasses the remainder of the budget and stated that he had more or less answered the question because the City of Bartow has special charges for special services. C/M Gottesman asked, since Tamarac is a growing city, what knowledge he had of planning and zoning and the building codes. Mr. O'Connor said he has a degree in Urban and Regional Planning and he worked with DOT when he completed college as an Urban Planner. He said this job entailed working with local governments and setting up planning projects. Mr. O'Connor said he has also worked on comprehensive plans for municipal government as required by State law. C/M Gottesman said that he noticed that Mr. O'Connor was very heavily oriented in the industrial area and Tamarac is very heavily oriented in retirement and asked him if he saw any conflict with his past experience getting into the very new area of how to handle retirees as opposed to commercial or industrial people. Mr. O'Connor said that he did not see it as a problem at all. He exampled the City of Red Bank, Tenn., where he was employed for three years, which was a total residential community and the emphasis there was on services for the community. He said he was not certain if there was a real difference between the communities. Mr. O'Connor said the City of Bartow is heavily industrial because of the phosphate and the citrus which is primarily blue-collar type work. C/M Gottesman asked how many people were on his staff. Mr. O'Connor said total city employees is somewhere around 210 but during the summer that grows based on the recreation services at City Hall. 5 9/10/85 /vdw C/M Gottesman asked if these were 210 paid city employees. Mr. O'Connor replied that he was correct but that the figure does not include summer -run programs which are part-time positions. C/M Gottesman reserved the right to ask questions at a later time. He asked if there was a very controversial dispute between two departments which would affect the harmony of the city government and the people, and asked how he would handle it. Mr. O'Connor said they would be called into his office so that they could sit down and determine what the problem is. He said, hopefully, by the time they walk out of his office, it will be resolved because he has not encountered anything that he has not been able to resolve. C/M Gottesman said that maybe one department, theoretically, has complained that they have been stepped on by the other department's overlapping authority, and asked how he would pacify both sides. C/M Gottesman said that by just asking and sitting down does not answer the question. He asked Mr. O'Connor if he would call on somebody or ask for help. Mr. O'Connor answered that he would not because those depart- ment heads would be his responsibility and that he would utilize his discretion. He said it may take defining the responsibilities of each department and going over them. Mayor Kravitz injected that each applicant is allotted thirty (30) minutes and asked that Council hold to the allotted time. V/M Massaro said there have been many questions asked and that Mr. O'Connor has answered them very carefully. She said that most of their monies were derived from user taxes and asked if they had a utility tax. Mr. O'Connor said not on electric but they do have a utility tax on the water and sewer and also on the telephone and gas in the city. V/M Massaro asked if there was a tax on the garbage collection. Mr. O'Connor answered no, they do not because it is treated as an enterprise fund separate from the city's General Fund function. V/M Massaro asked if the billing was through the city or does the garbage collectors bill them directly. Mr. O'Connor replied that the city is the garbage collector. V/M Massaro stated that the city was the garbage collector but they pay separately for it. Mr. O'Connor said they bill the homeowner. He explained that the City of Bartow has an air base located five miles outside of the city from which they run water and sewer to surround-ing areas. Mr. O'Connor said when a utility bill is received, it states, water, sewer, electricity and garbage. He said there is a separate line item which reads, "Utility Tax on Water Utility Tax on Sewer". 6 9/10/85 /vdw V/M Massaro asked the rate of the utility taxes. Mr. O'Connor answered 10%. V/M Massaro referenced that the garbage amount was $5.80 and would be increased to $8.00 monthly and asked if there was a particular reason for such a radical jump. Mr. O'Connor replied yes, because their tipping fees are being doubled and they are centralizing to one major landfill. He said, theoretically, this cost could go down if Lakeland's generating plant is able to accept solid waste. V/M Massaro asked if the tipping the billing that will be created will the city make money on it. cost was exactly the same as for the garbage collection or Mr. O'Connor said they will lose about $170,000 in their Sanitation Department next year, therefore, they do not make money on Sanitation. He said the tipping fee is included but they have gone from five miles to the landfill to thirteen miles one way which is also reflected in the cost of the operation of those trucks. V/M Massaro said that accounts for the $2.20 increase. Mr. O'Connor said he was talking about approximately $75,000. Mayor Kravitz asked, if the Council saw fit to ask him to come on board, how much time would he need to give the City of Bartow notice. Mr. O'Connor said he would give them a 30--day notice. Mayor Kravitz asked if that would include moving or would that be in addition. Mr. O'Connor said the moving would be contingent on how they dispose of their house but added that he was doubtful that he could move down completely within thirty days. He said he would move down but his family would remain there until the house was sold. Mayor Kravitz asked if it was safe to say that within a month he could come on board. Mr. O'Connor answered yes. Mayor Kravitz inquired where he could be reached should Council have subsequent questions. Mr. O'Connor said he could be reached at his home or office. Mr. Perretti asked if his Commission was aware that he was applying for this position. Mr. O'Connor said yes. Mayor Kravitz asked if he was staying over tonight or going right back. Mr. O'Connor said he.was going right back but he could be reached at home tonight. He said he and his wife plan to drive around the area. Mr. Perretti said that Mr. O'Connor has informed the Com- mission that he has applied for this position and indicated that if Council wished to contact any one of them, they could. Mr. Perretti asked if they have a paid Fire Department in Bartow. Mr. O'Connor replied that they did. 7 9/10/85 /vdw Acting City Manager Perretti asked if they have their own ambulance service. Mr. O'Connor answered that they did not but run Emergency Medical Services at no charge. Mr. Henning questioned his present salary and whether he has the use of a car presently. Mr. O'Connor said, presently, his salary is $43,000 effective October 1, 1985. He said he has unlimited use of a leased vehicle in addition to a $250 monthly car allowance. Mr. O'Connor said all the other benefits such as the pension plan to deferred compensation is $50 monthly as opposed to the standard $100 and his health and life insurance are paid for by the city. C/M Munitz questioned the use of a car and a car allowance. Mr. O'Connor said the allowance was for operation and main- tenance. Mayor Kravitz asked if his present contract with the City of Bartow included a six months' termination clause. Mr. O'Connor said he does not have a contract with the City of Bartow but he did have one with the City of Red Bank, Tenn. Mr. Henning asked if he knew what reasonable moving expenses are. Mr. O'Connor said he did not but would be glad to supply them with three bids. V/M Massaro asked if he took the car home for his personal use. Mr. O'Connor said that it was a leased vehicle that he has for his personal as well as business use. Mr. Perretti introduced the next candidate. James John Smith, 4570 N.W. 17th Way, .TAmarac, Florlda In reply to Question #1 -- Mr. Smith prefaced his remarks by stating that it was a pleasure being in front of his own hometown Council and to be scrutinized publicly for this most important position. He assured them of the benefits of the open, public meetings for the scrutiny of city managers according to public law; however, he said there were some difficulties with the questions being open to the public. He assured Council of in --depth answers and candor. Mr. Smith said he believed that one of the key functions of the Chief Administrative Officer in any city, including the four cities in which he has had the pleasure to work, is to act as a communicator. He said that communication with all the citizens and the City Council is absolutely necessary He viewed the City Manager as the focal point of what could be characterized as an hourglass. He said there are the policy directors who would be seated around the dais and in order to get all their policy directions down to the staff and to the citizens, it has to go through the City Manager's Office. He said, likewise, staff has to direct all of their problems and concerns to the City Manager up to the Council. Mr. Smith said he has yet to see a City Council that is not standing, ready, willing and able to answer all questions and make tough decisions as long as the issues are presented to them in a clear, concise manner. He said many times in some cities that focal point - the City Manager's Office - tends to clog up and communication fails to flow and, felt, there- fore, there are a lot of problems which require time and a lot of effort is wasted and it also becomes an economic factor. I--] 9/10/85 �.. /vdw Mr. Smith said in all of the cities in which he has had an opportunity to work he has had excellent relationships with the City Councils and the staffs and with the citizens in communication. He said it is not his style nor the style of any City Manager to become involved with favoritism with the Council, staff nor any of its citizens. Mr. Smith said his basic decision is a business decision and felt that the City Manager should keep all decisions on a business basis. Mr. Smith said he always goes through three checkpoints when- ever he makes a decision in city management: first, the legal checkpoint, second, economical checkpoint and third, the functional practicality. He said this is the way he basically submits everything to City Council. Mr. Smith said it was imperative that the City Manager be a communi- cator and avoid becoming involved with personalities or politics. He said he has always gone out of his way to make sure that each Council member is assured the full resources of his office. Tape Response to Question #2 - Mr. Smith said he does not expect 2 anything from his staff that he would not do himself. He said he likes to approach everything in a methodical manner and tries to communicate. Mr. Smith felt the most important thing that is not done in many, many cities is not enough systemization of various projects and work flow. He said he liked to keep things moving and provide decision points without having things get lost. Mr. Smith said it was essential to develop project lists for scrutiny by Council and the citizens. He summarized that his style, basically, is to systematize things, prioritize projects, make sure that Council is ready at decision points and accept respon- sibilities and keep things moving. Response to Question #3 - Mr. Smith said the citizens look for someone who is willing to listen because there were many dedicated people out there who have very useful information and could be a part of the decision -making process. He said the City Manager has to listen to the citizenry and to staff because if he/she had all the answers, there would be no need for a staff. Mr. Smith said, consequently, the most important parts are listening and followup. Response to Question #4 - Mr. Smith said morale comes from leadership and direction and that crisis management is.an area that definitely causes morale problems. He added that he does not believe in crisis management but believed in planning and setting down certain policies and procedures that can recur in the areas of purchasing, requests for proposals or quotes. Mr. Smith believed that staff has to be involved in the administrative decision -making process. He recalled that years ago a gentleman with a Ph.D. approached leaders in American business with the idea that the people who are out there actually dealing with the problem could be involved with the decision making process, it would lend itself to better management and the Americans, at that time, said no. Mr. Smith continued that this gentleman went to Japan and submitted the same idea and the Japanese leaders listened, and consequently, the quality circle form of management evolved and now Americans are beginning to realize that it is important. He said this does not mean that the City Manager does not show leadership or does not have a general, overall program and knows what to do and how to get there but felt if staff were involved in the decision making process, it would be the best thing for morale. Mr. Smith said the City Manager should act as the glue or adhesive to put these ideas together and as long as the staff knows that 9 9/10/85 /vdw they are listened to and their input is valuable, he felt it was the best thing for morale. Response to Question #5: Mr. Smith said his employment with various cities over the years has involved him with numerous community development programs, with many senior citizens programs as well as cultural and parks and recreation programs. He exampled the City of Dania stating that there were various ethnic and socio-economic groups and also retirement groups and the use of facilities was addressed as well as creating capital programs for the citizens' needs. Mr. Smith said he has acted as liaison for all the cities at which he was employed with political interest groups, citizens' groups, business organizations and committees. He said, consequently over a period of time, these groups understand that there is a concern and that what they have to say is important. Mr. Smith reiterated that followup is essential to be able to integrate what you can into city programs and, if it becomes impossible to do that, to get back to the people so that they understand why. Response to Question #6: Mr. Smith said his experience as Assistant City Manager for four cities enabled him to cut across the board and be involved in all the areas mentioned. He said in the City of Bozeman, Montana there was a $950,000 cash deficit and a $3.5 million budget two months after his arrival. Mr. Smith said he has been involved with major capital programs equalling approximately 200 million dollars. He developed the RFQ's, engineering studies, RFP's, was involved with capital programs development, served as liaison with engineering and contracted with engineers and engineers' services. Mr. Smith said he developed and negotiated contracts and was Contracts Administrator for many federal grants for utilities infiltration/ inflow projects. He said in the City of Bozeman he worked with the City Attorney and EPA in building a new sewerage treatment facility and concluded that he has had experience in all these areas. Mr. Smith said he has formulated city budgets, capital budgets, complete restructuring of budgets, and purchasing procedures. He said he is a strong believer that there is a lot of money wasted in purchasng procedures. He believed there was a need to know when to use the request for quotes versus an RFP. Mr. Smith said the negotiating process starts the minute the RFQ starts to become formulated and that certain aspects of purchasing can be standard--ardized and other aspects which he considers as an art developed after it has been done a number of years including negotiating. Mr. Smith said countless dollars could be saved with the use of correct purchasing procedures. Mr. Smith concluded that he honestly does not have any particular strengths or weaknesses as he has been involved with them all successfully. Reply to Question #7: Mr. Smith said structural reorgani- zation would have to be in the private sector with Westinghouse Broadcasting and Cable Corporation whereby they completely restructured an organization to be able to take 35,000 accounts in the City of Tallahassee and run them through the Tallahassee Leon Civic Center within ten days and change out the entire 35,000 converters. He said they transported the data base there and built a data base for a new on-line computerized billing system and also educated the people with the new equipment and verified accounts and accomplished this with approximately nine weeks preparation. He said the entire project lasted ten days. Mr. Smith said the biggest accomplishment was the restructuring of the budget format process for the City of Bozeman where he did a ten-year budget analysis and financial statements. He said there were false statements of mismanagement and explained that they eliminated a $950,000 cash deficit within one year and had a balanced budget the following year. Response to Question #8: Mr. Smith said he has had an opportunity to work with some good city managers but the I 1 10 9/10/85 /vdw situation in the City of Bozeman, Montana was the most controversial. He said there was talk of indictments and they went through a whole year with that situation. Mr. Smith said the cities that he has been involved with have been relatively well run. Response to Question #9: Mr. Smith replied that an overall plan was important and that he would bring before Council, a business plan for every department. He said some projects get lost and revealed that he would create a project list or business plan for each department assigning capital projects, and the steps to accomplish them and their costs. He said he would also include a generalized statement of projects for each department to assign project responsibilities. Mr. Smith said this plan would give the City Council an opportunity to find fixed responsibility, gives them an opportunity to make the right decision at the appropriate decision points and keep the projects moving. He said, if there was ever a resource shortage, it would give City Council an opportunity to make a policy determination of where they want to spend the money. Mr. Smith said this should extend to all departments and that would be one of his first jobs if the city were to institute this type of program. Reply to Question 10: Mr. Smith said the Council/City Manager relationship should be somewhat of a marriage where both are happy with each other. He expected any Council member to come to him at any time, if they were not happy, and express that directly. Mr. Smith said in his tenure in government he has used the adage, "The truth knows no frontier" and the things that he would say to Council would be the same things that he would say to the citizens and staff based on a business decision and the truth is based on the facts at hand. Mr. Smith said anytime there is a change he would be the first to stand up and say they need to reconsider something. He said his tenure would be up through the time that Council felt he was effective and communicative with them. Mr. Smith said he hoped that the relationship would go on for some time and that he would be around until some of the projects are completed. Mr. Smith said as he looked around the city there are some projects that he would like to present to Council with some resources and options in terms of funding and noticed that next year will be difficult as he had the opportunity to read the very well --prepared budget message by the Acting City Manager. He said there will be some tough decisions coming up during the next year but felt if the City Manager comes to Council and the citizens with options for them to consider, it will make things a lot easier. He said anyone could come to Council with problems or go to the citizens with problems but the salary of the previous City Manager lends itself to solutions and that is what he would attempt to bring. Mr. Smith said, structurally, it is always good to have the City Manager make at least as much, if not more, than the top --paid individual in the city because of the chain -of -command type situation. He said he is not inflexible on salary because when you get up that high Uncle Sam gets most of it anyway. Mr. Smith said the City Manager should be the top-- paid employee not because of the monetary factor but because of the organi- zational structure. Mr. Smith said, in terms of fringe benefits, right now he is working for Broward County and is very happy there and the management knows that he is here. However, there they use their own car and in other cities that he has worked he has used his own car with no mileage. Mr. Smith said he would elaborate on that further, if considered. C/M Munitz asked Mr. Smith if he had any children. Mr. Smith said he did not. 11 ; 9/10/85 t� /vdw I '. C/M Gottesman said Mr. Smith mentioned his present job with Broward County and asked if his resume was written some time ago. V/M Massaro informed C/M Gottesman that Mr. Smith's job with Broward County was included in his resume. Mr. Smith concurred that it was on his resume and acknow. ledged that it was not a totally updated resume but was included in his cover letter. C/M Gottesman asked when, and how long he was employed with the City of Plantation. Mr. Smith said it goes back to October 1981 through approximately May of 1983 at which time he was offered an unsolicited position with Westinghouse Broadcasting and Cable. He said he informed Westinghouse that he would not take the position if he had to work in Broward County and was assured that their system in Broward County would be sold and he said he got as far from Broward County as West Palm Beach. C/M Gottesman referenced statements by Mr. Smith indicating that he was strong in RFP's and RFQ's to the tune of two hundred fifty million dollars and asked him where did he reach or attain that. Mr. Smith answered it was an accummulative figure based on all the projects he has been involved in. He said he did the complete negotiation and RFQ's for a twenty-eight million dollar telephone system as an interim management consultant for the State of Montana. He said there is also a ten to fifteen million dollar capital situation at Westinghouse. Mr. Smith said they did a sewer reconstruction infiltration/ inflow project for the City of Oakland Park and a major project with the City of Bozeman with the building of a sewerage treatment facility and the contracting and engi- neering for that. He said this accummulative figure spans ten years totalling $250,000,000 worth of purchasing, negotiating for contracted services, engineering and so forth. Mr. Smith said he was involved in writing the RFQ and negotiating the agreement and writing the RFP; he said it also included consulting services. Mr. Smith said he was involved with the 52--acre park in Plantation, and libraries that were built in Montana. C/M Gottesman noted that they have an $11,000,000 budget but the ways of buying or purchasing in the State of Florida are not via RFP's. He acknowledged that they have a very peculiar, "non-competitive" system of buying and asked Mr. Smith if he was familiar with it. Mr. Smith said that he was and that basically for architectural and engineering services and so forth that was correct. He said they always tried to bid wherever they could with cities that do not come under the act. He said the RFQ's and RFP's were large equipment, police vehicles, etc. and that was done at every city in which he has been employed. Mr. Smith said the general consensus was to bid and to evaluate the bidders was the peferred way to go. C/M Gottesman noted Mr. Smith's local address and asked if he would be available if they wanted to contact him further. Mr. Smith said he would be available. He explained the reason they were living at their present address is that his mother is 79 and his father deceased. Mr. Smith said there are some considerations with finances and health. He acknowledged that he has had to make professional changes because of that. He said they have lived there on and off since 1981 and that is their local address and phone number. 1 12 9/10/85 /vdw V/M Massaro said that he gave a very thorough report and asked how long he had lived in Tamarac. Mr. Smith said since 1981 but he has been a South Florida resident since 1958. V/M Massaro said he had lived here long enough to form an opinion and asked him what did he think of the City of Tamarac. Mr. Smith answered that being in Public Administration he has never been involved with any local politics nor state or national politics at all in any city. He said that he felt Tamarac was one of the nicest cities in the area in which to live. Mr. Smith said the services are great and there is a tremendous wealth of resources with the citizens and Council. He said everybody in his parents' neighborhood loves it here. Mr. Smith said he was always proud whenever he went to the League of Cities, etc., to say that he lived in Tamarac although he was part of other governments. Mr. Smith informed that he wants to insure that this con- tinues, particularly, since he felt there were going to be some difficult and rigorous decisions coming up in the next year. He said he has lived through times where there were financial considerations, and felt he could lend himself to bring information to Council that would be necessary for them to make their decisions. Mr. Smith asked that Council have enough confidence in the next City Manager, no matter who he or she may be, to be able to take the difficult information and work with that person to get the job done. Mr. Smith said there is a tremendous potential to continue to get the job done even though it may be more difficult than it has been in the past. C/M Munitz asked his salary at his present job. Mr. Smith said he was a very low -paid individual and that his salary was $25,000 with no car allowance and no automobile. C/M Munitz asked if his wife had a good job. Mr. Smith said she does. Mayor Kravitz noticed that Mr. Smith has a law degree from Florida State University and asked if he had ever practiced law. Mr. Smith said he worked as a legal intern for a year in a public defender's office in Miami and at that time, he was permitted to work for a year assisting cases and then take the bar exam. He said about the time he was studying for the bar exam, John Koozer, City Manager for the City of Dania, offered him the position of Assistant City Manager and he got hooked and has been with it ever since. Mr. Smith said it is something he really enjoyed. He said Mr. Koozer broke him into this business and between he and Mr. Stunson, Assistant City Manager of Fort Lauderdale who was formerly with Oakland Park, and also Mayor Veltri, he professed that he has worked with the best. Mr. Smith said he stood ready to continue on with the tradition that they have begun. Mayor Kravitz asked, if Council were to decide to engage him for the city, how much notice would he have to give his present employer. Mr. Smith answered three weeks. Mayor Kravitz said he did mention that he felt it proper to get a.salary a little higher than our top department head and asked if their department head only received $20,000, would he be willing to work for $20,100. 13 9/10/85 /vdw Mr. Smith said if the top department head were making $18,000, he would consider $18,100. Mayor Kravitz asked if a department head were getting $55,000, would he be willing to start for less than $55,000. Mr. Smith said he would. Mayor Kravitz asked for a figure at which he would be willing to start. Mr. Smith asked Council to consider that he is now 39 years of age and his wife wants to quit work and have their first child and he is running out of time. He said somewhere in that area he would be willing to accept the position. Mayor Kravitz said he still had not given him a figure. Mr. Smith answered $45,000. C/M Munitz clarified that he has never actually had the position of City Manager but that of Assistant City Manager. Mr. Smith replied no. C/M Gottesman asked what was his salary in Plantation two and a half years ago as assistant. Mr. Smith said he received $28,000 with no car nor car allowance. C/M Gottesman referenced his statement that he wanted to be the top -paid employee but stated that without any real experience, coming into a city where employees have spent many years of service, he felt he might start something big. Mr. Henning informed that he and Mr. Smith graduated law school in the same class. Nancy Ciummg, 915 North 17th Court,oll wood Florida 33020 Response to Question #1 - Ms. Ciummo answered that her management style is generally to be in charge of the administration of the city, work cooperatively with the staff and receive guidance from the City Council implementing their overall directions in the way they wish to run the city. She said that was basically how she viewed the relationship. Reponse to Question #2 - Ms. Ciummo replied that she is a very hard worker almost to the extent of a workaholic. She said her style is to delve into the problems. Ms. Ciummo said as far as her personality, she is a fair person who tries to be very professional with her work. Reply to Question #3 - Ms. Ciummo said the confidence comes with the type of job you are doing. She said you have to work at the position and you do not really obtain the confidence of the residents until you are working and performing on the job. Ms. Ciummo said residents like to see that they have someone in the administration, particularly in the Council/Manager form of government who knows the job and listens to their needs. Response to Question #4 - Ms. Ciummo commented that morale occurs when employees are motivated to do their work and feel that they have contributed to the overall good of the organization and are growing and learning on the job. Reply to Question #4 - Ms. Ciummo said she has always worked very well with citizens' groups and has worked in Tamarac. She said Tamarac has a lot of volunteer -type organizations and the other cities that she has worked with have a number of boards, such as Consumer Affairs, Recreation, Social Services. Ms. Ciummo evaluated that she has always worked well with boards trying to get them the information that they need in order to carry out their functions recognizing that they are voluntary. She said it also helps to minimize the 14 9/10/85 /vdw 4 costs of the operation of the city. Ms. Ciummo said she has a lot of respect for volunteer -type boards. Response to Question #5 - Ms. Ciummo said she honestly felt that she has expertise in all the areas mentioned with the exception of not having a lot of technical ability in the engineering end of it but added that she knew enough to work with them to insure that the needs of the city are met. She said her strong forte has been in the area of personnel administration/labor relations and in the Finance area. Ms. Ciummo stated that having worked in local government management for the past 12 years, she has tried to work at being a generalist and acknowledged special expertise in those areas. Reply to Question #6 - Ms. Ciummo said she worked for the City of Lauderhill at a time when the city was in a growing stage and helped to staff and organize the city in terms of a more meaningful delivery of services. She said when she was employed with the Town of North Bay Village they were totally nonfunctional when she accepted the position but she was able to organize and train the staff and create a structure in which they could operate. Ms. Ciummo said her reorganization resulted in cost savings because of the very fact of eliminating the existing chaos they were able to identify areas where they were losing revenue. She felt she has contributed in the City of Tamarac during its very early stages of development. Ms. Ciummo said she arrived at the time the city was breaking away from developers' control and was very instrumental in helping to create the framework, along with others, from which this governmental structure operates. She felt that it was important to have been with the city during its initial stages as the city could have very easily been lost during that time. Mr. Perretti asked how long she had been employed by the City of Tamarac. Ms. Ciummo replied five years. Mr. Ferretti asked why she left. Ms. Ciummo said she left because she wanted to experience a different type of local government operation. She said she went to work for a strong mayor -form of government. Ms. Ciummo said she wanted to expand her work experience in the public management area. Response to Question #7 - Ms. Ciummo said, clearly, the most controversial issue was one which occurred at the last city she was working whereby there was a development proposed and the developer, she believed, had misled the city in allowing them to think that he was going to put in a luxury condomi- nium project for which he got 17 variances from the city code. She said the end result was that he was allowing her, particularly, to believe that he was going towards conven- tional financing when, in fact, he was going before a review committee to obtain financing that would have created the commitment for low and moderate income housing. Ms. Ciummo said there was nothing wrong with that type of development; however, she felt that it was wrong for him to have misled the city to that degree. She said she went to the Dade County Housing Authority and obtained a copy of his application in order to determine if he had gone through all of the review processes and if the City Council had wanted to have input at a public hearing, they would have those dates. She said there was a similar situation with North Lauderdale that she had read about where they were going to try to get the Broward League of Cities to change the law to allow some local review because it is one of the very few instances where you can go ahead with a project without having local review. Ms. Ciummo said Florida Housing Authority and some of the local housing authorities have the sole jurisdiction in giving approval of those projects. Ms. Ciummo summarized that Council felt she should not have looked into it. 15 9/10/85 /vdw Mr. Perretti asked if she got "scratched". Ms. Ciummo replied that it seemed to be the topic for the evening. Response to Question #8 - Ms. Ciummo said there has to be a balance of all the services that are delivered and consideration must be given to the nature of the community. She said she does not believe in duplication of any services but believed in augmenting them. She said if there are a lot of recreational facilities that are servicing the need, determine what type of activities the community wants and then concentrate the recreation services in that direction. Response to Question #9 - Ms. Ciummo said she aspired to be employed with the city for a long time because she has a commitment to Broward County and would like to live in the area. She said she was not "in the job market" but applied for this position because she wanted to continue to live here and was interested in working for the community. She said as far as salary requirements, she knew what the job entails and did not feel that she would accept it for under $52,000. C/M Gottesman asked what other benefits, along with the $52,000, would she expect. Ms. Ciummo answered that a vehicle must be available because she would not be able to do this type of job strictly in her office. She said the City Manager should be compensated in some way and some consideration should be given for the cost of using an automobile in the job. Ms. Ciummo felt that a portable pension plan was important for the person who will be the chief administrator of the city because the position is one that is known not to be that stable. She said she would like membership in the International City Managers' Association as far as deferred pension payment plan because given the tenure of the position, a person never becomes vested in a pension plan because generally it takes ten years. C/M Gottesman stated that she had worked with small cities and did not know whether they had unions but asked if she had any feelings towards working with "unionized shop". Tape Ms. Ciummo said she has always worked very well with labor 3 organizations. She said she has negotiated union contracts and recommended language for union contracts. Ms. Ciummo said she has been instrumental in putting down union organization attempts also. She said as far as unions go, if they are here, she will work with them but if she could work with employees with benefit packages without having unionization, she would strive for that. She said unions generally come on the scene because employees do not know what benefits they have because after the unions come aboard, the employees generally do not get much more than what the city was already giving. Ms. Ciummo said she has not had any problems working with them. She said the main thing is benefits and the employees have to feel comfortable that they are getting compensated for the amount of work that they are doing in comparison with other people in the same profession. She said it would be a lot easier if the city gave it to them versus the union because there are less problems. Ms. Ciummo said if the employees felt more comfortable with the bargaining union representative, so be it. C/M Gottesman stated that Tamarac is a growing city and asked if she had any knowledge of the building codes and planning and zoning because as a City Manager questions may be posed concerning expansion and buildings and developments. 16 9/10/85 /vdw ..... Ms. Ciummo replied that at the last city where she was employed she actually restructured their development review process, even though they are all built, for building procedures. She said she is currently doing that now at the city where she is presently involved. Ms. Ciummo said she has a thorough knowledge of comprehensive planning, zoning laws and the entire review process because she grew up with it here at the City of Tamarac with the development from 1974 to 1979. V/M Massaro said she had no questions. Mayor Kravitz acknowledged that he knew Ms. Ciummo's back- ground having been employed with the city between 1974 and 1979 and then there was employment under Mayor Cippoline from 1979 to 1982 and then at Golden Beach as Town Manager. Mayor Kravitz asked, if she were to be considered by Council for the position of City Manager, how much notice would she have to give to her present employer. Ms. Ciummo stated that she knew they were anxious to fill the position; however, she felt an obligation to her current employer to give them adequate notice because it would not be fair to them to leave suddenly. She said probably no more than 30 days. Ms. Ciummo said this was a very critical time in terms of budget review. Mayor Kravitz inquired her present salary. She said as of October 1, it will be $29,500 but presently it is $28,000. C/M Munitz noticed under references submitted by Nancy Ciummo the name of Vice -Mayor Helen Massaro. He said he knew Nancy was the assistant to Ed Gross the years that she was employed with the city. He asked V/M Massaro for her recommendation re Ms. Ciummo's qualifications. V/M Massaro said she did not know how she got to be one of her references because she did not ask permission. She said she was surprised to see that but said, be that as it may, she did know Nancy. V/M Massaro said she worked with her during those years but if C/M Munitz were to call her for a reference she would say it was true Nancy was a very hard worker but as far as she is concerned Nancy Ciummo is not a City Manager. V/M Massaro said she was always either an assistant or working for someone and exampled the case of Mayor Cippoline saying there was no judgment of hers but Mayor Cippoline's so that experience is not as good. She stipulated that she is bright and a hard worker. V/M Massaro said she has a temper which tends to get out of hand sometimes but as far as she is concerned, she would not vote for her. Vickie Beech asked when they finish today and did not reach a conclusion, would consideration be given to Mr. Hammons who could not attend today's interviews. Mayor Kravitz said that would be decided by the Acting City Manager. Mrs. Beech said, in all fairness, he should be interviewed also. Mayor Kravitz answered that if Council determines that they are satisfied with one of the candidates, there is no sense in spending the money to bring down another candidate. Frankc 3650 t F 33309 Response to Question #1 - Mr. Spence acknowledged that Council had seen his resume and were cognizant that he is a professional City Manager spanning a career of almost 25 years except for several overseas assignments. Mr. Spence 17 9/10/85 /vdw said his management style was simply one of attempting to devour as much information as possible and evaluate the various alternatives in order to make a decisions. He said his style is also one of participatory con-sensus and that he is not a dictatorial person. Mr. Spence believed in having as many discussions as possible in trying to weed through the information that might be available. Mr. Spence said he has as open contact as possible with his subordinates and his department heads because they are his "right hands" and he relies upon their professional competence as they should be professionals in their own right and he respects their professional opinions. However, Mr. Spence said the final analysis would be the responsibility of the City Manager for their performance and certainly for the performances of all the employees under him. Mr. Spence said he does get out and mingles very well. He said that he has dealt with people all his life and certainly believed in listening to their opinions and making the final decision on his own. Reply to Question #2 - Mr. Spence said, in all modesty, his persnality was one of his strong points. He offered his record of participation in his community from United Way to the various service clubs and believed his responsibility as City Manager extends beyond putting in a 9 to 5 day. Mr. Spence said he believed in offering all he could in leadership to the community not only within City Hall but in extracurricular activities. Mr. Spence said he has held a number of professional positions in his own profession and other related organizations. He reiterated his belief in participation and involvement and doing all he can twenty- four hours a day. Mr. Spence said his work habits have been extremely consistent. He said he is in excellent health. Mr. Spence said he believed in coming in early and usually going home late and added that a 60-hour work week was nothing for him, especially in a public job. Response to Question #3 - Mr. Spence stated that one way to instill confidence in the electorate of his capabilities and the capabilities of personnel is by getting out allowing them to know him, attending their meetings, and hearing what they have to say. He stated that he does not make promises unless he can keep them. Mr. Spence said he will do everything in his power to carry out everything that he says he will do. Mr. Spence said he was City Manager for Miami Beach for over four years and the assistant for five years before that; therefore, he was very familiar with dealing with the elderly population. He said Miami Beach, at that time, was the oldest city, agewise, in the entire United States. Mr. Spence said he is sensitive to their needs and because they are retirees, they have a lot of time on their hands; therefore, they may dabble in politics or come up with the most complaints rather than the working person who may leave the city during the daytime and come back only in the evening and weekend. He said their needs involve leisure -time activities. Mr. Spence added that Miami Beach did not have an impoverished elderly population and believed that the City of Tamarac had a similar population which would make a difference in addressing their problems. Mr. Spence said performance is the most important thing and referenced the adage "Actions and deeds, not words, make the man". He said the city should provide those services and keep the electorate happy and the Mayor and Council will be happy. He said the name of the game is to keep the monkey off their backs. Reply to Question #4 -- Mr. Spence said morale is very important because everyone is an individual with opinions and feelings. He said a manager or administrator cannot sit in his office and expect to know what is going on out in the field but visiting around and getting to know the employees, 18 9/10/85 /vdw \t -ten- s done, and relating well to them is which he has alway Spence said people want to be extremely important. Mr. heard. Manager for Miami Mr. Spence said when he aas issistanon buteventually union Beach they did no organize* He said what came out organizers did come in and org grievances are heard that the of that was if the employeeMr. Spence said this also union never would have come in, exampled Delta Airlines as a private industry employees with extremely high shows up in P again tr having a non -union carrier and having employee and morale. He thought that it can be done ag two --way channel communication Manager.etween thHeesaid yanother department heads and the City happening in aspect is if you wanted to know what is really happening man or woman the field or how to do something betterr usually have very good who is doing the job because they er or more suggestions as to how to do things cheap good morale would or faster. He said not having g jobs efficiently "goldbrick" and not get their tend to make employeesto work. Mr. Spence said the done and not care about coming as p risible to an employee te jobs should be as p raductive, to be able toheir paytanduin because they want to be P are earning want to know that they good days work. Mr. Spence and they er will get a g return the employ are not allowed that satisfactionr cautioned that if they they will drag their feet. Spence said they had a number Response to Question 45 - MSpen r• active in of citizens' groups in Miami Beach who were veryand the monitoring the activities of theadministration channels of Spence them elected officials. Mr. tr important giving communication open is extremely imp a spirit of answers to their problems or complaints and and taking straighthave to say into consideration what City Manager can not be isolated trust will arise. He eo le, attend their meetings but has to interact with tholPCyPwhich he always maintained - and maintain an open-door P they want does Spence said this does have to eeverythingd and it on Mr. P you have to give not mean that y You crazy. He said consideration because that can also drive Y if possible, should be given to the varioand,ecertainly,thf organizations and responding accordingly, financially in the budget. 1 to Question #6 - Mr. Spence said budgeting ing and finance Reply resents the backbone of the go hand in hand. He said overnment. Mr. Spence said there operation of a municipal g le must is a need to know where you are at all times and people o the budget and in accordance Sw�nCessaid watching xtY adhere t operation. Mr. P et is very can not run a deficit nditures and monitoring the bud g He said the cash flow. expenditures that he has always done. Mr - important and is something negotiations. Mr. personnel would followo ratedecontbactsor alnumberoftimes and Spence said he has theyehad to hire outside they got so big Mr. Sp ent and penetrating Spence said the weakest a area would engineering, although he knew enough questions. He said he knew what he wanted in the way of public works projects. Response to Question #7 - Mr. Spence said that coming into P or county minor adjustments have s, he willknow any new city to six mon Mr. Spence said that within tgooed or not andtherwiHe said whether a department head is g to ed were in a whether to get rid of him/her or retain him/her- most of the cities where hehas ressubeen employesent ed add personnel. growth situation with the p impose a hiring freeze Mr. Spence stated that he has had to He said he does not have a Mr. due to financy whereaints. a major reorganer f rn* specific city Manager for North Spence said he was the first official City 19 9/10/85 /vdw S- Palm Beach whereby he set up his own organizations from scratch. He said Miami Beach had been established for over 50 years and he made minor adjustments and fine tuning. Response to Question #8 - Mr. Spence said a number of controversial ones for the South Florida area concerns expansion, rezoning and development of the Master Plans when they first became law in the 1970's caused a lot of controversy and great pressure on the elected officials trying to come around to the point of view of developers. He said the elected officials were trustees of the general public and had to take their interest into consideration. Mr. Spence said when he took over in 1972, they had a number of crises even though they had passed a number of bond issues in Miami Beach for the new city hall, fire station, etc., and they had sixty million dollars in the bank. He said Council was split, even though the public had approved the bond issues, on whether to go forward with the project and they were, in effect, second guessing the public. He said he tried to show the benefits of moving ahead with some of the projects that were essential because they created jobs and were investments that needed to be made at that time. Mr. Spence said nothing will ever be any cheaper than it is today. He explained that in a growth area, with the demand on land and services continuing and inflation, everything will keep getting more expensive so the quicker you move forward with that project, the better off you are. He said by getting community support, they used the citizens' groups to exercise influence and support for these projects to get them off center and obtain the necessary approval. Mr. Spence said they also had the first oil crisis which was not budgeted and the price of gasoline and oil doubled and tripled. He said they had a very large fleet of automobiles and were heading for a deficit in their budget and they had a number of choices that were weighed: They could lay off employees or reduce services. Mr. Spence said he proposed to Council, so that everybody could keep their jobs because their payroll at that time was $100,000 daily, that every single employee including himself would take one day off per month without pay and they were able to eliminate the $400,000 deficit. He said the employees went along with it because they would rather have one day's pay less than not to have a job at all. Reply to Question 9 - Mr. Spence said he did and added that environment is extremely crucial to be maintained especially in the Tamarac area. He said he has driven around the city and found it to be very well landscaped. He said environment and aesthetics go hand in hand. Mr. Spence said he liked the small signs and felt that the city was on the right track. He said parks and areas are essential to maintain as open spaces, beautiful greenery, maintaining the environment in additional to any recreation that may be provide with condominiums. Mr. Spence said there are still many private homeowners who need to have a place for picnicking and boating and felt that it would serve a dual purpose to have these areas. Response to Question 10 - Mr. Spence said tenure is always a two-way street and that he would stay as long as he is wanted. He said after traveling around he wants to settle down and added that he likes South Florida and that all his family is in South Florida except for a 15--year-old son. He said whatever commitment he would make would be included in the agreement and he would live up to it. Mr. Spence said he noticed that the City does have a lot of room yet to grow and he likes growth and expansion. He said he does not have any more Mt. Everest to conquer because he has done all that. He said the desired length of tenure is indefinite but if Council were comfortable with him and he was comfortable with the situation he saw no problems. 20 9/10/85 /vdw 1 1 Mr. Spence said he was aware of the salary range and requested approximately $52,000 which is lower than the previous City Manager. He said he came out of Pennsylvania Dutch country and believed in working hard and also in being rewarded for working hard. He said if Council were satisfied with his work performance, then he would expect appropriate rewards and, obviously, if he did not, he does not deserve it. Mr. Spence said most city managers have a car or car allowance. He said the hospital plan is fine. Mr. Spence said he does not go after anything extra and never has. He said he would go along with the employee benefit package. Mr. Spence said sometimes something is worked out on a leave basis whereby the manager would be entitled to leave immediately. Mr. Perretti asked him where he was presently living. Mr. Spence answered that he is living in Oakland Park with his married son and daughter. C/M Munitz did not have any questions. C/M Gottesman requested that he talk with him privately and asked if that could be arranged. Mr. Spence said he was at his disposal. V/M Massaro asked him about his experience as President of Frank Spence & Associates. Mr. Spence said it was a corporation of the State of Florida of which he is President. He said it was a consulting company and that he has no active files at present. V/M Massaro asked if he had an active file what would it be in. Mr. Spence said it would be consulting in the local government and finance. He said he was a consultant for Collier County in a legal suit because the City of Naples had sued Collier County for dual taxation and the County Commission, City of Naples and the Court accepted his recommendation for setting up municipal service tax units and he eliminated the dual taxation situation. He said he was also a consultant in Sroward County for Cooper City because at the time they did not have a city manager and he was hired to prepare their budget, develop a new organization plan and assisted them in developing an ordinance to hire their first city manager plus he did a personnel study for them. V/M Massaro noticed that he was an adviser to the Republic of Liberia, West Africa sponsored by U.S.A.I.D. and asked what the initials meant. Mr. Spence replied the United States Agency for International Development which is the foreign aid arm of the U.S. Government. He said it was a subsidiary of the Department of State. V/M Massaro clarified that it was an arm of the United States Government. Mr. Spence said it was and that this department handles all the foreign aid. V/M Massaro asked if someone had a bond from Africa, would it be guaranteed by U.S.A.I.D. Mr. Spence stated that they would not guarantee any bonds. Any bonds issued by any organization or by any government has to be backed by that government itself. He said U.S.A.I.D. is very active in giving food to Ethiopia. Mr. Spence said they give food and assistance and also professional help to very poor, Third World Countries. He said the United States has the money to 21 9/10/85 /vdw provide technical as well as advisory assistance. He said if the country can afford to have the experts come in, then they pay for it. V/M Massaro asked who are they and where are they located. Mr. Spence said in Washington, D. C., the U.S. Government. Mayor Kravitz stated that from May 1980 to July 1981 he was in the Financial Planning of Local Government Consulting Firm in Florida. Mr. Spence agreed. Mayor Kravitz said he went from there to HCA which took over the other firm that he was with and now he listed from 1984 to the present year back again with this firm, which he is president, Frank Spence and Associates. He asked, if he were selected by Council to serve, would he give up that service or would he still operate that business. Mr. Spence said he would not because he was aware of conflict of interest laws in the State of Florida and most city ordinances prohibit any outside employment so that would be zeroed out. He said professionally he did not believe it proper. Mayor Kravitz asked, at the present time, if he was strictly doing the work as Frank Spence Associates. Mr. Spence said he was. Mayor Kravitz asked if he was drawing a salary from his account. Mr. Spence said yes, adding that he is not currently engaged in any contracts. Mr. Spence said he was available immediately. V/M Massaro referenced the statement he made whereby $400,000 was recovered by having various people take the day off and asked if that was in Miami Beach. Mr. Spence said that it was. V/M Massaro asked if they had a contingency fund in their budget. Mr. Spence said at the time of budget preparation, yes, they always had a contingency fund. V/M Massaro asked if he had a deficit in a line item would he take from contingency rather than ask an employee to take a day off. Mr. Spence said it was expended because the contingency fund is used to balance the budget; they are surplus funds carried forward from the previous year's budget. He said that was included in the complete, proposed budget for that particular year. Mr. Spence said the expenses for gasoline and fuel were so great that they ate up all the surplus and everything available even though they had a hiring freeze and stopped all purchases. V/M Massaro said that by the end of the year they did not have a contingency. Mr. Spence said that was right. He said usually the money is spent on capital items and most of them are out of the way or committed and by the time this crisis occurred, which was approximately five months before the end of the fiscal year, that money was gone. V/M Massaro said she was not criticizing how it was done but asked if there had been a contingency fund, would he have used that. 22 r 9/10/85 /vdw Mr. Spence said it was included in the budget and it was used for other things. He said that they are not allowed to carry forward large amounts but a certain percentage. C/M Munitz referenced Mr. Perretti's memo of September 4 in which he mentioned that he had 65 applications and that these were the five that he felt were most qualified. C/M Munitz said it was a sad commentary on the other sixty applications if these were what Mr. Perretti felt were the "cream of the crop". He said, frankly, he was not too impressed in any way with any of the five as he felt neither of them had the strength of experience, character and know-how that is necessary for the City of Tamarac. C/M Munitz said he cannot see any of the five qualified to serve as the city manager of the city. Mr. Perretti said that was his choice and that all he could tell him is that out of the sixty-five applicants, there were probably ten who he eliminated that were well qualified but wanted between $60,000 and $75,000. He said if Council wants qualified people like that, they can get them but they will have to pay for them. Mr. Perretti said Mr. Hammons, who was not present today, is going to be a very impressive candidate but he will cost them. He said that Mr. Hammons will ask for a salary of $55,000, plus moving and relocation expenses, 10% on pension plan because he has already discussed that with him. The Acting City Manager said it is not the fact that they do not have qualified candidates but it is up to the Mayor and Council to determine what they are willing to pay for a good city manager. C/M Munitz said sometime cheapest is not always the best. Mr. Perretti agreed acknowledging that he is a firm believer in that. He said if they are shooting for people who have been making $28,000 and are striving for $50,000, he concurred. But, Mr. Perretti added that if they are looking for a person who has solid city manager experience in this day and age in the State of Florida, they are going to pay $50,000, or better plus moving and relocation expenses, plus at least 10% on retirement, because this is what the ICMA is telling each and every one of these experienced city managers at their meetings. He said he is not surprised at all with what Mr. Spence requested and also Mr. O'Connor because they are experienced city managers who are members of the IMCA and know what is happening. C/M Munitz said based on what they have been earning before their requests are unbelievable. Mr. Perretti said Mr. O'Connor's is making $43,000 in a central Florida city but he felt that Mr. O'Connor could be bought for $50,000 easy. He said just because he said $54,000 does not mean that he will not accept $50,000. C/M Munitz reiterated that he did not feel that any of the four candidates could withstand the pressures of being a city manager for the City of Tamarac. C/M Gottesman said he felt Mr. Spence offered certain background, knowledge and familiarity on how to deal with the problems that the City has or anticipates. He felt that Mr. Spence would reduce his salary requirement. However, C/M Gottesman said he admired the audacity of some of the other candidates who are presently making $28,000 to $30,000 asking for $50,000 and $52,000 and added that they should realize that the person before them got $540000 after being here with a raise, etc. C/M Gottesman said he did admire Mr. Spence's manner and his way of talking to people and felt he would be good for the city since he knew he had to work with both sides which was not exhibited by some of the others. C/M 23 9/10/85 /vdw Tape Gottesman MOVED to TABLE any action at this moment to allow 4 Council time to reflect upon it and perhaps they may want to speak again with the other candidates. V/M Massaro said everybody knew how much was paid and that the City Manager they had previously did nothing good for the city and he received a raise inside of three months and did not complete his probationary period. V/M Massaro said the blame should not be on the applicants but that the fault lies within the city. She said Mr. Spence was a man of knowledge and knows what he is doing. She said she would hire him in a minute. C/M Gottesman concurred. SECONDED by V/M Massaro. VOTE: Mayor Kravitz Aye V/M Massaro Aye C/M Gottesman Aye C/M Munitz Aye C/M Stein Absent Shirley Blumfield, resident, asked if all the applicants' references had been checked. Mayor Kravitz informed that the City Manager will handle that. Mayor Kravitz adjourned the meeting at 4:25 p.m. ATTEST: ASSISTANT CITY CLERK This public document was promulgated at a cost of $234.90 or $6.53 per copy to inform the general public and public officers and employees about recent opinions and considerations by the City Council of the City of Tamarac. fo°i F,*b AT MEETING of o City Clerk 1 1 24 9/10/85 /vdw