01/05/2023 City Council Meeting Minutes January 5, 2023
City of Clearwater
Main Library- Council Chambers
100 N. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33755
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Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 5, 2023
5:00 PM
Special City Council Meeting - Re Employment Status of City
Manager
Main Library - Council Chambers
City Council
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City of Clearwater
City Council Meeting Minutes January 5, 2023
Roll Call
Present: 5 - Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor Kathleen Beckman,
Councilmember David Allbritton, Councilmember Mark Bunker and
Councilmember Lina Teixeira
Also Present: Michael Delk—Assistant City Manager, Jennifer Poirrier—Acting City
Manager, David Margolis — 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 5:00 p.m.
2. Citizens to be heard re items not on the agenda
Jennifer Haithcock expressed concerns with the rising costs of rents and
questioned if the City has the authority to cap rents.
It was stated that there are limitations on what the City can do regarding
rents and that the City is working on additional affordable housing projects.
Jean Johnston expressed safety concerns for patients and patient
escorts at the Bread and Roses Women's Health Center. The angry
protestors are paid to harass those entering the building, requiring the
Health Center to hire off-duty Clearwater police officers. She said the
Health Center would like to see the police officers take a more active role
to help control the public safety concerns, which include physical
assaults and trespassing.
It was stated that Council will make sure the efforts started by Jon
Jennings will continue.
Norm Bild said Ulysses S. Grant was posthumously promoted to
"General of the Armies,"an honor only given to George Washington and
John "Black Jack"Pershing.
The City Clerk read an eComment submitted by Mr. Holuba (See page
6).
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City of Clearwater
City Council Meeting Minutes January 5, 2023
3. City Manager Reports — None.
4. City Attorney Reports — None.
5. Other Council Action
5.1 Discuss the employment status of City Manager Jon Jennings.
At the December 15, 2022 council meeting, a motion was made to terminate
City Manager Jon Jennings. The motion carried as follows:
Ayes: 3 - Mayor Hibbard, Vice Mayor Beckman, and Councilmember
Teixeira
Nays: 2 - Councilmember Allbritton and Councilmember Bunker
Per the Clearwater City Charter, "The council may remove the city manager by
an affirmative vote of four council members or a majority of the council
members at two separate meetings held at least two weeks apart."
Council scheduled the second meeting for Thursday, January 5, 2023.
Four individuals spoke in opposition.
One individual spoke in support.
One individual expressed concerns with how terminating the city
manager will impact the City's ability to seek good talent.
One individual submitted an eComment concerning the lack of support
and improvement the City Manager has shown the community in the
CRA (see page 19).
Two individuals submitted eComments in opposition (see pages 18 and 20).
One individual submitted an eComment that Jon Jennings was selected
as the city manager because he was an agent of change (see page 18).
Eight individuals submitted emails or letters opposing Item 5.1 (see
pages 7 to 16).
Discussion ensued with comments made that discussing the
employment of the city manager in public is not an easy process, that
Jon Jennings did a lot of good things in the past year, such as improving
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City of Clearwater
City Council Meeting Minutes January 5, 2023
neighborhood and employee relations, creating a Public Works
Department, addressing the backlog of sidewalk improvements
citywide, and revamping Utility Customer Service to be more friendly. It
was stated that Mr. Jennings failed to prepare for the ARPA community
sessions, that the agreement with Ruth Eckerd Hall for the management
of the entertainment venue at Coachman Park took too long, that agenda
items were incomplete or delayed, and that Mr. Jennings has not
communicated with Council since December 15, 2022. Concerns were
expressed issues related to Mr. Jennings'job performance were not
raised during his annual review.
Councilmember Teixeira moved to dismiss Jon Jennings from city
employment. The motion was duly seconded and carried by the
following vote:
Ayes: 3 - Mayor Hibbard, Vice Mayor Beckman and Councilmember Teixeira
Nays: 2 - Councilmember Allbritton and Councilmember Bunker
It was stated that Council now needs to determine an interim city
manager, establish a salary, and discuss a city manager search.
Councilmember Allbritton moved to appoint Jennifer Poirrier as the
interim city manager during the city manager search. The motion was
duly seconded and carried unanimously.
It was stated that when Micah Maxwell was appointed interim city
manager, he was a provided a significant increase because he was
overseeing significant departments and taking the interim city manager
position. It was suggested the same formula be followed for Ms. Poirrier.
Staff was directed to provide the interim salary information at the January
9 work session.
It was suggested that Baker Tilly not conduct the new city manager
search.
Staff was directed to place the city manager candidate profile and job
description on January 9 work session agenda.
6. Closing comments by Councilmembers (limited to 3 minutes) — None.
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City of Clearwater
City Council
Meeting Minutes January 5, 2023
7. Closing Comments by Mayor - None.
8. Adiourn
The meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m.
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City of Clearwater