05/24/2021 - City Manager Candidates Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 24, 2021
City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
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Meeting Minutes
Monday, May 24, 2021
11 :00 AM
Special Work Session - City Manager Candidates
Main Library - Council Chambers
Council Work Session
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City of Clearwater
Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 24, 2021
Roll Call
Present 5 - Mayor Frank Hibbard, Councilmember David Allbritton,
Vice Mayor Hoyt Hamilton, Councilmember Kathleen Beckman,
and Councilmember Mark Bunker
Also Present: William B. Horne II — City Manager, Pamela K. Akin City Attorney,
Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, and Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk.
To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not
necessarily discussed in that order.
1. Call to Order— Mayor Hibbard
The meeting was called to order at 11:03 a.m.
2. Council Discussion Item
2.1 Review City Manager Candidate Finalists - Art Davis, Baker Tilly Recruitment Consultant
Mr. Davis reviewed the nine candidate finalists. He requested Council
identify those candidates where there is no interest in effort to identify five
candidates.
In response to questions, Mr. Davis said he spoke with Ms. Goldsmith at
length several times, she is dealing with many similar complexities
shoreline communities experience and is masterful at collaborations.
The City Manager said the City of Deltona has a history of city manager
challenges and experience city manager turnover. Mr. Davis said Ms.
Shang was successful in getting things done and had a high position of
responsibility at the City of EI Paso. He said he has not conducted a
deep dive background check yet but according to the media, she has been
abrupt on occasion. He has heard similar comments regarding the City
of Deltona and their challenges with governing. The candidate pool was
extremely diverse and consisted of 92 applicants. A vast majority of
professional city managers are male but there is a rising number of female
city managers each year.
Discussion ensued with council consensus to strike David Johnston, Jon
Walker, Robin Gomez, Jane Shang from the process. The was
council consensus to interview Michael Cernech, Carl Geffken, Kevin
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City of Clearwater
Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 24, 2021
Woods, Jill Goldsmith, and Gary Palmer.
Mr. Davis said he will call the finalists about next steps as well as those
who did not make the cut. He will begin background and reference checks
on the finalists, as well as conducting social media and nexus
backgrounds. Mr. Davis said he will ask the finalists to write a narrative
about their career, which will be provided to Council a week prior to the
interviews. He will coordinate the community forum with HR Director Jennifer
Poirrier. Ms. Jennifer Poirrier said the Department Director and Candidate
Community forums will be held at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The council one-on-ones
will be held at the hotel. The council interviews will not be televised in order
to protect the integrity of the interview process. She said the council meeting
held after the interviews on June 16, 2021 will be televised and will provide
Council an opportunity to discuss and offer employment if ready. Staff has
scheduled a special meeting at 6:00 p.m. if needed. Mr. Davis said Council
should not have any communication with the finalists until the interviews. Ms.
Poirrier reminded Council that notes taken during the interview process are
public record and should be submitted to staff.
3. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 12:14 p.m.
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City of Clearwater