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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06172009SpecialSEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING CHARTER OFFICER EVALUATIONS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009 - 6:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA PURPOSE: Charter Officer Evaluations Mayor Gillmor called the Special Meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice-Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Dale Simchick Council Member Eugene Wolff Staff Present: City Manager, AI Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio MIS Systems Analyst, Rob Messersmith 09.017 4. CHARTER OFFICER EVALUATIONS (R-07-31, Goals 1/09) (Public input is limited to the item on the agenda - R-09-05) Mayor Gillmor stated he had had spoken with each of the Charter Officers and since he felt this was City Council's only opportunity to talk about the Charter Officers amongst themselves in the sunshine, noting public input is important, he recommended that Council hold their discussion first and then take public comment after Council is done. He then requested the City Clerk to call Council names as she does for a roll call vote. Ms. Simchick recommended to keep it organized that public input be heard after Council discussion of each officer so it does not become haphazard and turn into cross talk on three different people since historically that is how it was done. Mayor Gillmor said it didn't seem to work well in the past and reiterated Council would open up to public comment at the end of the meeting when they are done. He said the chair is supposed to control the meeting and hopefully that is what he was going to do. Special City Council Meeting June 17, 2009 Page Two Mr. Wolff asked when the discussions about how the meetings would run that he mentioned had taken place. Mayor Gillmor said the discussion took place with himself and the City Attorney as to whether public input needed to take place. Ms. Simchick said that is a one out of five discussion, and these are agenda items and asked the City Attorney if public input is customary after each item, and said the Mayor does control the meeting but it should be a policy decision of Council, noting she was not present at the discussion and reiterated that in the past input was allowed following each item. The City Attorney stated there is a difference between a public meeting and a public hearing, noting this special meeting is designed for elected officials to evaluate charter officers and is not set up as a public hearing. He said the City has been very liberal in permitting the public to speak on virtually every agenda item it considers whether or not they are public hearings, noted Council always asks for input and in doing so are blurring the lines between public hearings and public meetings and legally there is a distinction. He said the Mayor has the authority to decide how the meeting will proceed, subject to a majority vote to do something else with regard to how the meeting is conducted, but absent that the Mayor does have the ability to control the meeting. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Hill to approve the Mayor's suggestion. Ms. Simchick said she preferred to individualize public input so that someone who wanted to give accolades to one officer who has done a good job won't be mixed with someone who may have negatives, but if they want to lump it together she appreciates that but thought it best to separate it. Mr. Hill said he did not believe it was up to the public to decide if the individuals are doing a good job. Ms. Simchick said she just thought it would be unfair to the employee. Mr. Wolff asked that the motion be restated. Ms. Coy said "to maintain item 4 as a discussion only amongst Council in accordance with the Mayor's decision". Ms. Simchick noted the Mayor had said to allow public comment after Council was done and the Mayor confirmed that. Ms. Coy then said if they are to be commented upon why not comment after each item, but then said if Council is charged with doing this, it is Council's evaluation and input is not required. She said the public is allowed to comment on every item at every single meeting and said she thought public comment at this meeting was inappropriate and the publicness of it unnecessary, noting once the evaluation is done it becomes public record. Mayor Gillmor asked for a roll call and the City Clerk asked for clarification of the motion, citing the original motion to approve the Mayor's suggestion. Ms. Coy said she did not include public input in her elaboration of the motion and the City Clerk asked if it was the intent that the roll call would be for "no public input" and Ms. Coy and Mr. Hill concurred. Result of the roll call: AYES: Gillmor, Coy, Hill NAYS: Simchick, Wolff Passed 3-2 2 Special City Council Meeting June 17, 2009 Page Three Mayor Gillmor asked the City Clerk to call Council names for each officer's evaluation starting with the City Manager. A. City Manager Mr. Hill said he had met with the City Manager to conduct his evaluation and his evaluation was on file in Human Resources as a public record. Ms. Coy said she had met with the City Manager and her evaluation is public record. She said he has done a superior job, and he should continue working to maintain staff morale and productivity, continue to take every reasonable opportunity to go green, create jobs and think outside the box to keep Sebastian special. Ms. Simchick said she had a lengthy evaluation, and said she wanted to make a public statement that the City Manager has improved, has excelled in his job with the new City Attorney on staff, is keeping Council more informed with updates, can improve with more legislative updates and sound personnel decisions. She said her full evaluation is public record. She thanked him for a good job. Mr. Wolff said he found the evaluation form provided by Human Resources quite helpful and reviewed its content and ratings system of 1 through 5 with 5 being the highest rating at exceeds expectations. He said of the three Charter officers, the City Manager has the most complex job since he answers to Council, supervises staff, and reports to the taxpayers and business community. He said he has found the last six months to be very productive with Mr. Minner at the helm, stating we got a lot of work done, noting you can't please all the people all the time. He said he has not always agreed with everything but that it is productive to disagree sometimes to move forward. He gave the City Manager a 4 out of 5 rating and said a performance increase should be granted, however, noted that the City Manager and City Clerk salaries, including COLA have been frozen since April 2008 and both had again voluntarily agreed to freeze salaries through at least September 2010. He also noted they had offered to suspend medical insurance coverage for fiscal year 2010 provided in their employment contracts. He said despite this he had recommended a 3% merit increase in his evaluation. He said that the evaluation with specific comments are on file and can be obtained on the website. (For the record, the employment contracts provide for individual and dependent insurance premiums paid by the City and the offer made by the Charter Officers was to suspend the dependent medical insurance premium effective April 1, 2009 through FY 2010, however the employee insurance premium continues) Mayor Gillmor thanked Mr. Wolff for enlightening the public on the procedures, echoed a lot of views stated on the City Manager, noting he had scored the City Manager a 4 out of 5 rating, wants to keep him in his place. He commended both for their offer to freeze salaries but noted he had recommended a 4% increase for the City Manager because he has an awful lot on his plate and is doing a good job of managing them. He noted the evaluation is on file, and asked if it would be available on the website. The City Clerk said personnel files have not been placed on the website in the past, are public record and are available in Human Resources, but could be placed on the website at the discretion of the City Manager. The City Manager said typically they are not placed on the website but if anyone wanted a copy they could make a public records request or stop by Human Resources and review them. Special City Council Meeting June 17, 2009 Page Four B. City Attorney Ms. Coy said she rated Mr. Ginsburg extraordinarily high, appreciates that someone of Mr. Ginsburg's caliber is willing to work in Sebastian part time and does so very professionally. She suggested quarterly updates on litigation issues if he had spare time, urged him to carry on and keep working, noted that under contract giving a raise is not an option, and if we could we would. Ms. Simchick said the transition for Attorneys was seamless, said we have superior legal counsel to a government body, and he is always available to explain complex legal issues to Council, the public and staff. She said she would like to the LDR language cleaned up as he becomes more familiar, noted Mr. Ginsburg has set up meetings with staff and the public behind the scenes. She said Sebastian has come up many notches in the public eye, that he is a great representative with other agencies, citing the ISBA, said we will have a legal and strategic edge. She said she felt we have sound legal and professional advice, said meetings run smoother, have wonderful representation and feels safe and protected. She said had we not suspended the rules she was sure there were people from the public here to thank him and so thanked him for them. Mr. Wolff said the City Attorney had done well in the job based on the difficult circumstances without the background depth of what takes place at City Hall, said he gave Mr. Ginsburg a 5 out of 5 which doesn't mean there is not some room for improvement. He asked for periodic updates. He said he did not understand the confines of the contract relative to increases and said he had recommended a salary increase of 1.5% simply as a means of recognition and recognizing he had been here for a short period of time. Mayor Gillmor said he had rated Mr. Ginsburg 5 out of 5 and read his comments, citing he has been impressed with his dealings with the County in ISBA meetings, said he sees a keen mind and a grasp of the nuances of law that may be important to our City, said he felt confident if a storm is brewing he will see it coming and forewarn them. He told him he would also like to see a quarterly update of items he is working on so there are no surprises. He said he was very excited with all the experience he brings to the table. Mr. Hill said he had met with the City Attorney to conduct his evaluation and his evaluation was on file in Human Resources as a public record. C. City Clerk Ms. Simchick read some of her comments, said the City Clerk provides all appropriate information, works off hours to satisfy Council requests, and expectations are exceeded. She said she is not afraid to train her staff to carry on the work of the department, has good relationships with the media and meets her obligations, citing the work involved in keeping up with laws in regard to noticing, elections and records. She said citizens express their appreciation for the work of the City Clerk, she is well loved by the community, and noted Council depends on her for procedures. She asked her to continue to be consistent, to allow the other records specialists to conduct the meetings and shadow them and to take more vacation. Mr. Wolff said it is important to recognize the complexities of the Clerks office, saying it is the face of Sebastian because the Clerk is present during office hours, said we could not find a better representative and by encountering the professionalism of her staff, Jeanette and Donna, you hear her enthusiasm and concern for the City. He said if a 4 Special City Council Meeting June 17, 2009 Page Five mistake is made she notifies them right away and it is corrected, and she is a pleasure to work with. He said he rated her a 5 out of 5, and offered a 3% increase even though he knew there would be no increase. Mayor Gillmor echoed his fellow Council members, saying she is doing an excellent job and recommended a salary increase of 6%, and rated her a 6. Mr. Hill said he had met with the City Clerk to conduct her evaluation and his evaluation was on file in Human Resources as a public record. Ms. Coy said she rated the City Clerk 5+ and that there is not enough good that can be said about our City Clerk, and said any positive impact to the economic downturn it may keep the City Clerk here for a while longer. She thanked both of the Charter Officers for freezing their merit and COLAs and said it leads by example. Ms. Coy announced that Friday, June 19th is the last in the Summer Concert Series by Ben Robinson. 5. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the Special Meeting at 6:44 p.m. Approved at t e Jul 8, 2009 Regular City Council Meeting. r Richard H. Gillmor, Mayor ATTEST.' 9 ~/~ ~~ Sally A. M 'o, MMC -City Clerk