Special City Commission Meeting

City of Deltona 2345 Providence Blvd. Deltona, FL 32725 Minutes Special City Commission Meeting Monday, October 16, 2017 5:00 PM Deltona Commission Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Masiarczyk. 2. ROLL CALL – CITY CLERK: Present: 9 - Commissioner Alcantara Commissioner Bradford Commissioner Herzberg Commissioner Honaker Commissioner Ramos Vice Mayor Nabicht Mayor Masiarczyk City Manager Shang City Attorney 3. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: Mayor Masiarczyk led everyone in the pledge to the flag. 4. BUSINESS: A. Discussion, ranking and selection of new City Attorney. Mayor Masiarczyk explained the Commission is charged with making its selection for City Attorney. The interviews were done on Saturday, October 14th and the Commission needed to do the ranking and recommendation as put forward. Each Commissioner will rank the three firms and then the Commission will be charged with appointing a negotiating team to negotiate a contract with that firm. If negotiations are unsuccessful the team will negotiate a contract with the second choice and so on. Commissioner Honaker stated he wished the City could hire all three firms because it was so close. He stated he did a staff study, came up with three criteria and one firm beat out the others hands down which was Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed. He stated he looked at municipality experience, other City conflicts, communication and response and cost. The only thing the firm did not have is the certifications but, that does not make an attorney the right person for the job. Also, the City Charter states to hire an in-house attorney who lives in the City and the closest thing to that is an attorney who is available all the time. Every time City of Deltona Page 1 Printed on 7/15/2019 Special City Commission Meeting Minutes October 16, 2017 he has needed the Fowler firm an attorney was either available by phone or was at City Hall. After scoring the three firms the Fowler firm received a 9 and the other two firms received a 16 and 17, the criteria was not weighted. Vice Mayor Nabicht stated he did not feel it was appropriate to submit questions if he could not be here to ask them but, he watched the interviews and read all the resumes so he will base his decision on that. Commissioner Bradford stated her decision is not based on anything that the Fowler firm has done wrong but, her decision is going to be based on a firm that can take the City moving forward where it needs to go with new perspectives and new ideas, it is not personal. Commissioner Alcantara stated he likes the Fowler firm, his decision is not emotionally based and he had his top two firms prior to getting the resume which was Shephard & Smith first and the Fowler firm second. He stated he watched the interviews and he likes the experience that Shephard & Smith has even though the firm may not have been practicing law as long as some of the other firms. He stated he also likes the experience Shephard & Smith brings especially when it comes to growth and he agrees with what was said by them that the City is a canvass, the City is a blank slate and the City needs a firm to get it where it needs to be. Mayor Masiarczyk stated each Commissioner has an interview ranking sheet to rank the three firms. He stated there was not a lot of difference between the firms except in the mechanics on how the firms planned on working with the City. All the firms came prepared and answered each Commissioner's questions. Commissioner Herzberg apologized for not submitting her three questions for the record. She read each of her questions as follows and provided a detailed explanation of each: 1. What is their view and how do they handle union contract and arbitration and is that done within the firm or is it farmed out to another attorney at an additional cost; 2. During a public meeting when the Commission is asked to vote on a resolution or an ordinance and something comes up whether from a member of the public, a member of the Commission or a staff member recognizes there is an error. If there is a problem with what is being done how would the attorney handle that; 3. Interlocal agreements, which firms have conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest representing municipalities that the City may or may not agree with and how the firm would handle that. She stated her questions went a lot deeper than the simpleness of the questions, she has been here with the City for seven years and an individual firm has to have the strength to stop the Commission from going down the wrong path, the strength to go to the City Manager when staff is going down the wrong path and say this is not the way it should be. The attorney needs to look out for the best interest of the City, for the residents and future of the City. It is not the City Attorney's job to provide the City a downtown or how to develop or what to pass by resolution or ordinance because that has to be the will of the Commission. The attorney cannot be a magical wand to create future development and make the City magically business oriented City of Deltona Page 2 Printed on 7/15/2019 Special City Commission Meeting Minutes October 16, 2017 which was how it was presented. If the Commission cannot agree on driveway resolution or carports how is the Commission going to grow this City; that is on the Commission. Mayor Masiarczyk stated he was extremely impressed by all the firms and he was surprised at how identical the firm's answers were and he gave the example that they all would use an outside labor attorney for union negotiations. He stated he watched the interactions during the interviews and some stood out more than others. He asked each Commissioner to rank the firms 1 being their first choice, 2 being their second and 3 being their third choice. The firm with the lowest score is the top choice. After that a motion will be in order on how the Commission wants to do the negotiations, usually the negotiating team consists of himself, City Manager and the candidate. Vice Mayor Nabicht suggested having either Finance Director Robert Clinger or prior City Manager Dave Denny be part of the negotiating team. Mayor Masiarczyk asked Deputy City Clerk Janet Day to read the results. Ms. Day read the results as follows: Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed - 9; Shephard & Smith - 16; and Fishback Dominick - 17. Motion by Vice Mayor Nabicht, seconded by Commissioner Herzberg, to hire Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed and to try to negotiate a contract with the law firm Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed and if not successful go to the #2 and the #3 ranked candidates." Commissioner Alcantara requested to revote on the top two firms and Mayor Masiarczyk replied the Commission has made their decision but, if unsuccessful negotiating a contract there is also the option to repost the position again. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 6 - Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner Herzberg, Commissioner Honaker, Commissioner Ramos, Vice Mayor Nabicht, and Mayor Masiarczyk Against: 1 - Commissioner Alcantara Commissioner Alcantara stated the reason he voted against hiring Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed was because the firm was not his first pick. Vice Mayor Nabicht asked if there was any interest from the rest of the Commission to bring in former City Manager Dave Denny to be part of the negotiating team and there was none. Motion by Vice Mayor Nabicht, seconded by Commissioner Herzberg, that the Mayor, City Manager and Mr. Clinger, the Finance Director, negotiate a contract with the law firm the Commission has chosen (Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed) to represent the City." City of Deltona Page 3 Printed on 7/15/2019 Special City Commission Meeting Minutes October 16, 2017 Commissioner Alcantara asked if this is normally how it would be done, the negotiations and Assistant City Attorney Segal-George replied it is the Commission's choice, she has no problem with it and the Commission can do it however the Commission is comfortable. Commissioner Alcantara stated so there is not something that is commonly done, it is whatever the cities want to do and Assistant City Attorney Segal-George replied yes, she has had situations where she has negotiated with the Mayor, with the City Manager or a designated person on the Commission. The negotiations can go however the Commission wants it to. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 7 - Commissioner Alcantara, Commissioner Bradford, Commissioner Herzberg, Commissioner Honaker, Commissioner Ramos, Vice Mayor Nabicht, and Mayor Masiarczyk 5. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:24 p.m. ______________________________ John C. Masiarczyk, Sr., MAYOR ATTEST: ________________________________ Joyce Raftery, CMC, MMC, CITY CLERK City of Deltona Page 4 Printed on 7/15/2019