City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 TOWN HALL 4 SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 5 MINUTES 6 Present: Councilwoman Jamelle McKenzie, Councilman Joe Carn, Councilwoman Tracie 7 Arnold, and Mayor Pro Tem Roderick Gay; City Attorney Winston Denmark; 8 Interim City Clerk Emmie Niethammer; and Chief Information Officer Michael 9 Hicks. Note: Mayor Bianca Motley Broom was present but seated with the citizens. 10 Absent: Interim City Manager Dr. Emmanuel Adediran 11 1. Call to Order 12 MODERATOR: And I will be your moderator tonight. I am one of your city’s communications 13 consultants. Tonight, we are here to announce the three finalists for the city manager position and 14 to give the citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions. The council members will not speak. 15 This is an opportunity for you to speak. But before we start let me introduce and ask the chief of 16 police Connie Price to give us the ground rules for the evening. 17 CITY CLERK: Chief please use the microphone so you can be heard online. 18 CHIEF ROGERS: Good evening, everyone. Just simple ground rules. Just be respectful. 19 Everyone has their own opinion. No profanity. Nothing derogatory. Just be respectful. Everyone 20 has an opinion whether you like it or not. Thank you. 21 MODERATOR: Thank you, Chief Price. Let me give you a little bit of 22 CHIEF ROGERS: It’s Chief Rogers. 23 Oh, I apologize Chief. Let me give you a little bit of what we're gonna do this evening. First, we 24 are going to announce the three finalists. Then we'll have Mr. Warren Hutmacher from the 25 recruitment firm, Sumter Local Government Consulting, talk about the process of hiring. Then 26 we will have the opportunity for people to speak. If you want to speak this evening, we have to 27 do it a little bit differently. But go to the ladies in the back and you can go in the back and sign 28 up to speak. We will have an opportunity for people to speak. This meeting though, it will end at 29 6:30 p.m. So, we will ask everyone if you want to speak, please sign up now. 30 With that let me introduce the three finalists by name for the position of city manager of College 31 Park. First there is Dr. Emmanuel Adediran who is our interim city manager. Mr. Thomas 32 Thomas the former city manager Compton, CA. And Mr. James Woods the former city Town Hall Page 1 of 9 09/13/2024 33 administrator for Fort Valley GA. And now with that let me introduce Mr. Hutmacher to talk 34 about the hiring process. 35 WARREN HUTMACHER: Good evening, everyone. My name is Warren Hutmacher. I'm 36 president of the Sumter Local Government Consulting. The firm that was hired last year or a 37 year and a half ago - two years ago to do the initial hiring for the city manager process and then 38 also for the process that we're going through this year after Mr. Hawthorne left the city. And so, 39 from my background standpoint, I'm a former city manager myself. I've served as city manager 40 in Avondale Estates, Norcross, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Georgia and Hutto, Texas. In 2021 we 41 started our firm which handles recruiting, staffing, and consulting only for local governments. 42 So, it’s a pleasure to be here with y'all tonight and to be back working with the city of College 43 Park. 44 So, from a process standpoint each city manager recruitment is done whether it's our firm, other 45 recruiting firms, or cities, all have a very different approach that they take depending on the 46 particular situation of the of the cities that you're working with and what their needs are at the 47 time. So, I have a lot of familiarity with the city from having done the previous city manager 48 search and a number of other executive searches with the city. 49 For this particular search from a process standpoint the first thing we do is we put together a 50 recruitment brochure that explains about the community, with the assets, wonderful things about 51 city of College Park are. What some of the key challenges and opportunities that candidates 52 would face in this particular job at this particular time in your history. It lays out the benefits 53 with the salary expectations would be. More information about the position and the government 54 structure of the city and then we go ahead out to market. So, for this particular position we 55 advertised in three places. One was through the Georgia Local Government Association which is 56 basically the cities and counties in Georgia and that's where all the municipal jobs are advertised 57 online. We also did the International City Managers Association and the National Forum for 58 Black Public Administrators. So, the advertising was done with those in mind. 59 We then take in the resumes. And I am blanking at this exact second, but I am going to look it up 60 in a moment and I will let you know exactly how many applications we did receive. At that 61 point, we take all of those resumes and we score them based on the minimum qualifications. It's 62 within the job description adopted by the city. I will present in a report to the elected officials 63 letting them know who all candidates are that applied for the position. What their resumes look 64 like, and then we scored those into tiers based upon the how they scored against those minimum 65 qualifications. We then discuss that with the council. They make a decision to narrow the field at 66 that point. They choose to narrow the field down to three candidates. And then we can go 67 through the interview process. In this case, the first interviews that were held were with the 68 elected officials in executive session over Zoom. And then they also additionally were 69 interviewed individually by the council members that were not involved in the initial 70 conversations that they had with the candidates at the first interview. And then those interviews 71 are to be discussed by the council members. Hopefully at some point they come to consensus on 72 who they wanna hire. Town Hall Page 2 of 9 09/13/2024  73 We then move a background check at that point on the candidates or candidate that they prefer to 74 hire. It consists of a criminal check, credit check, education verification, background reference 75 check, and then a deep social media and Internet search of the candidates. Then we present that 76 report back to the mayor and council. They are then free to then take that information and make 77 whatever decision they think is in the best interest of their community. And then assist on the 78 back end, once they've made their selection and voted on it, to be able to help with any media 79 relations. 80 So those are the duties of our firm. But, I think the key that I wanna also pass along to you is 81 one, that each search is unique for each community and how their elected officials want to go 82 ahead and do that. Our search firm is a facilitator of the process. Not the decision makers. So, we 83 don't we don't cut any candidates. We don’t choose any candidates. We’ll make 84 recommendations based on the criteria that the city sets. But ultimately it’s your elected officials 85 that make those determinations as to which candidates to move forward in the process; what type 86 of activities or interviews or schedule they wish to have for that process to make those decisions. 87 So, there is no right or wrong way necessarily to do it. There's just different ways in each 88 community. So, I don't want to take up all the time speaking but thank you for allowing me to be 89 here tonight to share some of the processes with you. 90 MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Hutmacher. Before we open up public comment let me read our 91 civility pledge. The way we govern ourselves is often as important as the positions we take. Our 92 collective decisions will be better when differing views have had the opportunity to be fully 93 vetted and considered. All people have the right to be treated with respect, courtesy, and 94 openness. We value all input. We commit to conduct ourselves all times with civility and 95 courtesy to each other. 96 So, let us now open up for public comment. Each person will have a three minutes to speak. Our 97 clerk will run the clock for us. Speakers may yield their time to the next speaker or the speaker 98 on the podium in additional three (3) minute blocks. So, I will ask the first person to come up 99 that signed in the back to have comment. Come to the podium. 100 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Elizabeth Lester. 101 ELIZABETH LESTER: Thank you for having the town hall tonight. I think this is a great 102 opportunity. I just wish that it had been under different circumstances. First, I'd like to point out 103 that I sent an e-mail earlier this afternoon pointing out that the public has not been given the 14 104 days’ notice required under the Open Meetings Act for the public to have an opportunity to 105 inspect and review the candidates that are under consideration when it's down to three finalists. 106 So I would highly recommend that you not select a city manager tonight. Because doing so 107 would be a direct violation of the Open Meetings Act. Happy to discuss my legal research on this 108 with all of you if you have any questions. 109 Second, I would like to point out that it doesn't seem like the city manager candidates have been 110 able to meet with department heads and it seems to me that if they are going to be managing 111 them that would be an important piece of information to see how they interact with them. I have Town Hall Page 3 of 9 09/13/2024 112 some concerns about our interim city manager and how he has interacted with many of our 113 employees including allowing residents to harass the employees including not sufficiently 114 supervising and protecting the employees from political interference in their day-to-day jobs. So, 115 I'm very concerned that he is one of our three finalists at this point. And I think the fact that he 116 also declined to be interviewed by two of our elected officials is of serious concern and in my 117 opinion should be disqualifying. Because it shows he is unwilling or unable to work with our 118 elected officials who will be in their positions for another three years. So, something to consider. 119 I don't know if these are the only candidates. People have raised questions about two of the 120 candidates and the way they were removed from their former positions. I think it would be 121 helpful for the residents to have additional information about how that came to pass so that we 122 could feel more comfortable with that. But I would encourage you all to think carefully about 123 how you are are proceeding with the process at a time when our residents have very little trust in 124 our city government. 125 MODERATOR: Next Person. 126 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Rex Willis. 127 REX WILLIS: Hello Council. I think it's very important I've been in the city of 45 years. I think 128 I've seen in the last 45 years; I think eleven to twelve city managers. Never ever have I ever seen 129 have a tone of town hall and get the citizen’s input. So I think that's great what y'all doing. But 130 there's nowhere in the charter that is required. So, I'm gonna get that understood it's not required 131 to have that; but it's good. Good transparency and giving citizen opportunity. 132 I support Dr. Adediran. OK, he came in at a very tumultuous time. Went through a lot. Dealing 133 with a lot of things going on and been working with the employees. And just changes and 134 dealing with changes new administration. So, I think it's very important that we stay with him. 135 Give him the opportunity and best of my knowledge all the all the council and the mayor had the 136 opportunity. 137 Something the young lady said previously before me. They had opportunity to interview all 138 candidates at that time that's the best of my knowledge. I wasn't there and was in executive 139 session. But I thought they did when I saw him up here they went into their executive session. 140 So just like someone said earlier, I don't have a problem with the mayor or another official. But I 141 heard something. The same people said, well we bought her in so deal with it. OK, whoever the 142 council chooses then let's move on. Let's come together rally behind them. Let's support them. 143 This gentleman just told you the procedure and the things that they go through to selecting the 144 candidates. So, it's not some back door hidden agenda. Hidden agenda behind back doors. All of 145 us have an opinion. I respect that and we have a right to support whoever we support. But please 146 don't demagogue someone because you don't care for him or you don't like their politics. I don't 147 agree with them. Town Hall Page 4 of 9 09/13/2024 148 So, I hope we have a good civility town hall. So council, thank you for having this and I hope 149 you make the right decision. But I support Dr. Emmanuel because I feel he's the right person for 150 the job. So that's who I support. 151 And also very quickly to the Police Department of public safety for coming out on 9/11. For all 152 your support that you gave us at the food distribution. So thank you very much. Thank you. 153 CITY CLERK: That is time. 154 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Brenda Cunningham. 155 BRENDA CUNNINGHAM: First of all I'd like to say good evening to the mayor, council and 156 others in attendance. My name is Brenda Cunningham and I do live in ward one. I appreciate 157 you all for having this forum and giving us as citizens an opportunity to give input. And part of 158 what I did before coming here I looked up some of the duties of a city manager. And that person 159 is in a role of one of the highest level positions in city government. That person also works very 160 closely with the mayor, council, as well as the residents of College Park. 161 So, with that said, I thought it was important to look at some of the duties, skill set, and 162 responsibilities of that person and see how they will impact the community. One is that they 163 oversee the operations of the city. They assist the City Council. They execute policies. They 164 oversee programs, manage budgets, they allocate resources. And in thinking about that. That's a 165 great deal of responsibility and power. 166 And what I like to see in the person that you decide to hire is someone who certainly has the 167 citizens at the forefront of what decisions or what they might do as it relates to the community. 168 We as citizens want to be listened to. We all want to be listened to. So, we would like to have 169 someone who is a person to engage, in some sort of way, to hear our voices. We are also looking 170 for our someone who can talk with us about a specific process that he will use to engage us and 171 to implement our concern for the community. I guess the other thing and lastly what I like to say 172 is we know that there are a number of issues facing College Park. We're looking for our city 173 manager to be that person to be the voice for the citizens, to listen to the council, and make a 174 wise and fruitful impact. 175 CITY CLERK: Time. 176 BRENDA CUNNINGHAM: Thank you. 177 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Demetrius Taylor. 178 DEMETRIUS TAYLOR: Good evening, everyone. Hello my name is Demetrius Taylor I reside 179 in ward 2 of College Park. Thank you for this inaugural town hall that's about employee and 180 employment opportunities here because this is something that we've never done in my 16 years 181 of as a resident here. Where we have the citizens give input, direct input, on a hiring process. I Town Hall Page 5 of 9 09/13/2024 182 thought that that's why we have an HR department. I thought that's why we have you guys in 183 place to make these decisions. Yes the public input is necessary. You'd like to hear from us but 184 we're talking about hiring. That there is usually done in executive session. So to take this 185 approach – hmmm – OK thank you. 186 OK, I'm heard the procedures that were taken but I did not necessarily hear the rubric that you 187 use to make sure each person are qualified. I hope that when you give the report to everyone that 188 the rubric is outlined. Because as many of us are here we hear that our incumbent, Dr. Adediran, 189 made the cut. OK which probably shocked everyone. 190 Our lovely mayor here has made it a point, that her contentiousness with him. She made the 191 point that she does not want him to serve permanently. So, for him to have made the cut of this 192 those eyebrows for everyone and so now we're questioning what was the rubric used to make 193 him make the cut. Also, we understand that you are also here when we had Stanley Hawthorne. 194 And so my question then, that I hope is explained in the report, of those people who applied 195 previously, with doctor Stanley Hawthorne, were those people brought back and under this 196 consideration? Did they apply? Did they make the cut or whatever? What was that? Because if 197 Stanley made it last year and didn't last a year. I'm sure those two after him, that were the top 198 three or whatever that was if they were available, I'm sure they would have applied. And if so, 199 why didn't they make the cut this time or whatever the case may be? I understand that that each 200 city is different and each time is different. But I'm just wondering did the rubric change? Or what 201 was that for us. There was a comment made that we didn't have the candidates run away oh 202 didn't get a chance to to speak with department heads. Well Dr. Adediran is the department head 203 right now for many of the departments, because we don't have department heads. So, they would 204 have been speaking to the competition. 205 CITY CLERK: Time. 206 DEMETRIUS TAYLOR: Thank you. 207 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Julie McGourik 208 JULIE McGouirk: Our city has not posted the resumes of the candidates on our website. 209 Resumes were obtained by citizens via the Freedom of Information Act. These and many other 210 articles on city affairs are available on UnitedCollegePark.com. Go there for unfiltered facts on 211 our city and sign up for informative emails. 212 Our city is beset with animosity and lack of communication between the mayor and not only the 213 council but the interim city manager Doctor of Ministry Adediran. If we wish to regain a 214 minimally functional government, his selection will only add fuel to the fire. 215 As of early this week he has refused to interview with Mayor Motley Broom for this position. 216 The other candidates have graciously accepted. Not a favorable sign for future congeniality. He's 217 contributed, along with the council, to a work environment where our sixteen core employees Town Hall Page 6 of 9 09/13/2024 218 and contractors have been terminated or quit. He's in charge of the council agenda and he fails to 219 give a city manager reports at council meetings. Again, you can see United College Park for an 220 informative video. He is rarely available to directly answer questions posed to him at council 221 meetings and even on subjects well within his purview. His educational background is in 222 subjects inapplicable to public government. His tenure at the city of Richmond VA was not 223 without controversy. 224 Of the three resume resumes presented, Thomas Thomas has the most impressive. Thomas has a 225 history of city management and government similar to complexity and larger in scale of College 226 Park. His education also supports his position. Thank you. 227 228 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: Shaquita James. 229 230 SHAKITA JAMES: Good evening mayor and council. My name is Shakita James and I reside 231 off of Rugby. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak tonight as you consider the 232 important decision selecting our next city manager. As this decision may already be made, I do 233 hope that you consider my thoughts in feedback from today. 234 I know this position carries immense responsibility not only to the residents of College Park but 235 also to the city staff who worked tirelessly to serve our community. One of the key qualities I 236 believe we need in a city manager is the ability to maintain independence and decision making 237 lines showing that both the council and the residents are well represented. It's important to have 238 a leader who can balance these dynamics with transparency, courage, and a clear vision for the 239 future. And I speak of this as a leader in healthcare institutions who makes these decisions about 240 hiring as well. I also believe our next city manager should prioritize fiscal responsibility, 241 infrastructure improvements, community engagement, economic growth, and public safety. 242 Those are important to me as I'm sure to others. These priorities will help ensure our city 243 continues to thrive both in terms of the services provided to the residents and the overall quality 244 of life. Equally important is a city managers role in supporting city staff, fostering a positive 245 morale within departments; strong empowered teams lead to better services and better outcomes 246 for the community and we need a manager who understands that motivated and well supported 247 staff is crucial for this city's success. 248 As you finalize this decision tonight, I would encourage you to consider the candidates these 249 questions: how are you building maintain strong relationships with the city staff while ensuring 250 independent and thoughtful decision making that both serves the long term needs of both the 251 council, the residents and staff? What ideas do you have to engage the residents more actively 252 and provide regular updates or city developments and decisions? These questions highlight the 253 need for leadership that strengthens both internal operations and fosters open communication 254 from the community. And I hope we can change it to the manager who is committed to fostering 255 a supportive innovative environment proceed employees and making decisions that align with 256 the best interests for College Park with these top priorities in mind. Thank you for your time and 257 consideration. Town Hall Page 7 of 9 09/13/2024 258 MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we are at our 6:30 mark; but we did start just a little late 259 so we will have one last speaker. 260 DEPUTY CITY CLERK: I have no others. 261 MODERATOR: Therefore, ladies and gentlemen the town hall is ended. Thank you so much for 262 coming out this evening. Thank you. 263 COUNCILWOMAN MCKENZIE: Motion to go into Executive Session to Discuss Personnel. 264 MAYOR PRO TEM GAY: Is there a second? 265 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We haven’t called the meeting to order and I am here. 266 MAYOR PRO TEM GAY: [Speaking to Mr. Muhammed] You will have to ask the moderator. 267 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Oh, we don’t even have chairs up here. Alright. 268 MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we will have one more speaker, Since I did offer that 269 opportunity, one gentleman would like to take that opportunity for three minutes. 270 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED: Thank you, mayor, and council city officials, and thank 271 you. 272 273 CITY CLERK: Could you state your name please? 274 275 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED: My name is brother Stanley Muhammed. 276 277 CITY CLERK: Thank you, Mr. Muhammed. 278 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED: I have been a citizen in this city for - since 1983 and 279 I've seen many city officials mayor council and from my vantage point, as a long time citizen, 280 this has been the best council that I have witnessed since I've been here. Of a council of freedom, 281 justice, and equality for all - regardless of creed, class, or color. A council that listens to the 282 people. And they have selected an excellent interim city manager in Dr. Emmanuel Adediran. I 283 would just caution the citizens who appear to have an inordinate self-interest that you want 284 someone who you can control. Not to abide by the rules and regulations of the city which I have 285 not seen Dr. Emmanuel Adediran violate one personally. But it seemed like this insidious force. 286 This has a white supremacist background and a slave master backgrounds. And all these all these 287 black people who love master. Who actually are actually in the Malcolm say you throw a brick in 288 a pack of dogs only one bark one guy hit. And so here we are we're seeing this insidious force 289 crucifying black leadership and that's the essence of it. But if they were white and if they were 290 white you would not have the comments you were having today. And when we had this white 291 city interim manager who had a lot of allegations not one of you white person stood up against Town Hall Page 8 of 9 09/13/2024 292 him. Not one white person stood up against Councilman Ambrose at that time. So, you're really 293 racist and hate black people. That's the essence of why you’re complaining. So, I support you. 294 ELIZABETH LESTER: Civility Pledge. 295 We love you. You keep up the good - you are derogatory 296 MULTIPLE PEOPLE: Civility Pledge please. 297 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED and so I pray to God that we stay. 298 CHIEF ROGERS: Stanley Muhammed [indecipherable]. 299 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED: I pray to God that – 300 CHIEF ROGERS: [indecipherable]. 301 ELIZABETH LESTER: Civility Pledge please. 302 BROTHER STANLEY MUHAMMED. Let me speak without you speaking over me please. I 303 pray to God that you make a decision, that's rooted in what pleases God. Because when you 304 swear in, you swear in with your hand on the Bible not with your hand on the Klux Klan 305 doctrine. 306 CITY CLERK: That is time. 307 BROTHER STANLEY MOHAMMED: Thank you very much. 308 The Town Hall adjourned at 6:36 p.m., September 13, 2024. 309 310 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 311 312 313 _________________________ 314 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 315 316 ATTEST: 317 318 319 ______________________________ 320 Queenie Brown, Deputy City Clerk Town Hall Page 9 of 9 09/13/2024