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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-12-96 WS MINUTES OF THE OCOEE CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP HELD NOVEMBER 12, 1996 PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING This meeting was called for the purpose of determining the short list of applicants to the position of City Manager which had been advertised, by Commission direction, in September. According to the procedure established by Commission at the beginning of the process, the applications for this position had been received by the Personnel Department, assigned a number, copied and distributed to the Commission for review. There were 151 resumes so distributed. CITIZEN COMMENTS Prior to the opening of the meeting Recreation Director Jim Beech addressed the Commission as a citizen and resident requesting that serious consideration be given to keeping City Manager Shapiro instead of continuing with the process of hiring a new City Manager. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Vandergrift called the workshop to order at 7:07 p.m. in the Commission Chambers Conference Room and announced that Commissioner Johnson had asked to make his comments first in the meeting as he needed to leave the meeting in order to attend the wake of a friend. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioners Anderson, Glass, Gleason, and Johnson. Also present were Recreation Director Beech (left at 7:07 p.m.), City Engineer/Utilities Director Shira, City Clerk Grafton, Mary Anne Swickerath of The Times and Craig Quintana of The Orlando Sentinel. Later in the meeting Janet Resnik was also present. ABSENT: None COMMISSIONER JOHNSON'S COMMENTS. Commissioner Johnson restated his position presented at the previous meeting when he said that he would not submit his list of 10 or 20 names as requested for this meeting because he would only vote for Ellis Shapiro to be hired as City Manager and he felt to do otherwise would not be fair to the citizens or to the officials to be elected in February. He stated further that he would not be running for office again, and he felt it was more appropriate for the new slate of elected officials to hire a manager as they would be the ones working with that person. Mayor Vandergrift asked if he would be in favor of hiring a Range Rider. Commissioner Johnson responded that he would be in favor of that solution or to hiring Mr. Shapiro from month to month, as he was aware of Mr. Shapiro's accomplishments since he has been here. That said, Commissioner Johnson left the meeting at 7: 10 p.m. PRESENTATION OF EACH MEMBER'S SELECTION OF TOP TEN APPLICATIONS FOR THE POSITION OF CITY MANAGER. Each Commissioner announced his top choices, and although the top ten had been suggested, all agreed to go further on the list when they started comparing the numbers. The numbers were announced in the following order: Commissioner Glass: Nos. 17,5, 122, 132,78,72,80,84,83,68, 123,96,99,36,30, 13, 121, 91, 85, 118. Commissioner Gleason: Nos. 5, 17, 18,21,72,80,82,85,87,93,99, 106. Ocoee City Commission Workshop November 12, 1996 Mayor Vandergrift: Nos. 11, 33,46,49, 60, 86, 87, 99, 124, 103, 16, 19, 30, 53, 98, 141, 130. Commissioner Anderson: Nos. 30, 31, 50,56,72,74,78,82,85,86,99,113,123,131,137, 139, 150, 151. It was determined that the following numbers appeared on the lists more than once and so would compile the short list of candidates: 5 = 2 times 17 = 2 times 30 = 3 times 72 = 3 times 80 = 2 times 82 = 2 times 85 = 3 times 87 = 2 times 99 = 4 times RECESS TO COMPILE SELECTIONS IF NEEDED. This recess was not taken at this time. However, a recess was taken from 7:45 to 7:49 p.m. during the discussion on the questions to be submitted to the candidates. DISCUSSION. During the discussion regarding the questions to be submitted to the candidates along with letter # 3, Commissioner Gleason stated for the record that he was not interested in waiting until after the election to fill this position as this experienced Commission was better qualified to do the hiring than someone just coming into office. Commissioner Anderson concurred, as did Commissioner Glass. Mayor Vandergrift also was in favor of continuing with the process. Using some of the questions in the Outline and others from experience the following questionnaire was compiled. CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE NOVEMBER 13, 1996 1. How would you describe your approach to managing people? 2. Fiscal responsibility rests with the City Manager. Describe your approach to budgeting and money management. How do you prioritize the needs of a City? What have you utilized as bench-marks in determining cash flow direction? What type of budgeting philosophy have you used - line item, performance based, or program based? 3. Most of us have one or more new concepts, projects, or innovations that we are 2 Ocoee City Commission Workshop November 12, 1996 especially proud of creating. Can you describe one such innovation of your own? Elaborate on the process used to get the innovation implemented. 4. Why are you interested in a new position at this time? 5. Sometimes individuals have made decisions that they wish they had not made. If given the opportunity they would make those decisions differently. What are your examples of this? 6. What is your approach to carrying out a policy approved by elected officials but which you had argued against and in which you do not believe? 7. How would you deal with a fractious council/commission? 8. Describe your specific experience in employee communication. 9. What is your philosophy on the public role of a City Manager or Administrator regarding community involvement? 10. Please describe your planning and visioning process. What sources of input do you utilize in the process and what is the end product produced? DIRECTIONS TO STAFF. As consensus had been reached that the short list would be 5, 17, 30, 72, 80, 82, 85, 87, and 99, it was agreed to direct personnel as follows: 1. Send letter #3 from the Hiring of City Manager Outline and the above questionnaire to the short list by overnight mail (with confirmation of receipt to personnel) with directions to candidates to complete the questionnaire and return it by Fax (or other fast method) by Tuesday, November 26, 1996 at 5:00 p.m. 2. Copy the responses for Commission as they are received for review and further consideration at a workshop to be held December 10, 1996 at 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers Conference Room. 3. Send letter #2 from the Outline to the remainder of the applicants. 4. Provide a memo regarding the timing of the customary procedure concerning background investigations and credit checks. There was discussion about how helpful the Hiring of City Manager Outline had been and appreciation was expressed for the efforts of the Personnel Department in this entire process. ADJOURNMENT. The workshop adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Attest: APPROVED: City of Ocoee J 3