Special call Commission Meeting

Lake Park Town Commission, Florida Special Call Commission Meeting Commission Chamber, Town Hall, 535 Park Avenue, Lake Park, FL 33403 Saturday, September 21, 2024 6:30 P.M. Roger Michaud __ Mayor Kimberly Glas Castro __ Vice Mayor Michael Hensley __ Commissioner Mary Beth Taylor __ Commissioner Judith Thomas __ Commissioner John D’Agostino __ Town Manager Thomas J. Baird __ Town Attorney Vivian Mendez, MMC __ Town Clerk PLEASE TAKE NOTICE AND BE ADVISED, that if any interested person desires to appeal any decision of the Town Commission, with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, such interested person will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose, may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations in order to participate in the meeting should contract the Town Clerk’s office by calling 881-3311 at least 48 hours in advance to request accommodations. CIVILITY AND DECORUM The Town of Lake Park is committed to civility and decorum to be applied and observed by its elected officials, advisory board members, employees and members of the public who attend Town meetings. The following rules are hereby established to govern the decorum to be observed by all persons attending public meetings of the Commission and its advisory boards: • Those persons addressing the Commission or its advisory boards who wish to speak shall first be recognized by the presiding officer. No person shall interrupt a speaker once the speaker has been recognized by the presiding officer. Those persons addressing the Commission or its advisory boards shall be respectful and shall obey all directions from the presiding officer. • Public comment shall be addressed to the Commission or its advisory board and not to the audience or to any individual member on the dais. • Displays of disorderly conduct or personal derogatory or slanderous attacks of anyone in the assembly is discouraged. Any individual who does so may be removed from the meeting. • Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stomping of feet, clapping, whistles, yells or any other type of demonstrations are discouraged. • A member of the public who engages in debate with an individual member of the Commission or an advisory board is discouraged. Those individuals who do so may be removed from the meeting. • All cell phones and/or other electronic devices shall be turned off or silenced prior to the start of the public meeting. An individual who fails to do so may be removed from the meeting. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL 6:40 P.M. PRESENT Mayor Roger Michaud Vice-Mayor Kimberly Glas-Castro Commissioner Mary-Beth Taylor Commissioner Judith Thomas Commissioner Michael Hensley PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Michaud Mr. Kelley Fleury recited an invocation. Brief Remarks Regarding the Interview Procedures: Mayor Michaud explained that the purpose of this meeting was to give the public an opportunity to ask questions of the candidates for Town Manager. Ms. Dona Higginbotham of Mercer Group Florida thanked the Commission for the opportunity to work together through this process. She explained the process for the evening. Each candidate has prepared a 3-4 minute introduction, followed by the Mayor asking each candidate the questions provided by the public, finally the candidate will have a closing statement. Once all the candidate have completed this process the Commission will reflect on the day and finally will be asked to fill out the ranking form before them. They will rank the top two candidates and the Town Clerk will announce the two candidates that ranked the highest. Each candidate will be given 2-minutes to answer each question. The candidates were called down as follows: Howard Brown, Jr.; Caryn Gardner-Young; Bambi McKibbon-Turner; Richard Reade; Paul White Each candidate was called in alphabetical order and answered the following questions: 1) Tell us three (3) highlights of the Town of Lake Park. 2) What is the size of the Town? 3) What is the population of the Town? 4) How do you invest in your employees and do you believe the outcome to be successful? 5) What do you do, outside of work, that brings you joy? 6) What are your thoughts about living in the Town? 7) On a 50/50 scale, where is your loyalty, the residents or developers? 8) How would you improve communication? 9) How would you improve transparency and make information accessible to the residents? 10) How would you better the Town based on what the former manager has done? 11) How do you deal with staff and subordinates’? 12) Do you plant vegetables and trees? 13) If a resident feels that their concerns are being overlook, how would you rebuild trust? 14) What is your management style? 15) Do you believe in moderate policing and addressing Town residents? 16) Do you believe in a skeet shoot place in Town? Panel Remarks Regarding the Interview Procedures: The Commission decided to have all the candidates wait in the Mirror Ballroom during their deliberation. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: Commissioner Taylor thought it was a good interview process. They were all qualified and had local knowledge. She has a preferred candidate in mind. Commissioner Hensley thought it was a long day and was good to meet with all the candidates. He was uncertain during the personal interviews and has gained more knowledge as they responded to the public questions. He would like to hold off on making a decision as he processes the information he heard and has the ability to cross reference what was stated. He does not have a preferred candidate at this time. He thanked Town staff and Ms. Higginbotham. Commissioner Thomas appreciated all that Mercer Group Florida did in search of a Town Manager for the Town. This was the first time she has gone through this process and appreciated everyone’s assistance. She felt many of the candidates were good. Vice-Mayor Glas-Castro explained that through this process her candidate of choice has changed. She did not use the prepared questions for the interview. She developed her own questions based on the budget preparation, communication, strategic planning, decision making processes, and staff strategies as the new manager. She felt that all candidates responded positively to the quality, mannerism and approach the Commission was striving for. She expressed concern with delaying the process and losing the candidate of their choice. She described other manager hiring processes that she has participating in the past. She was discouraged by a candidates responding using the “I” word. Her preference has gone down to two candidates. Mayor Michaud thanked staff and Ms. Higginbotham. He thanked the residents in attendance for their questions and input. He felt that for those candidates that did their research was shown during the interviews. He has a candidate preference. COMMISSION TO RANK TOWN MANAGER CANDIDATES: He asked for direction on moving forward. Town Attorney Baird made suggestions on the next steps. The Commission discussed when they would next meet. Mayor Michaud asked for an explanation of the process. Ms. Higginbotham explained the ranking sheet before the Commission, whereby each Commissioner would place an X next to their top two or three candidates. Those receiving the most amount of X’s would then move into the next stage of the process. They would conduct extensive background check, education verification, employment verification, and credit check. This process takes several days. In the meantime, the Town Attorney would begin to construct a contract. The Commission marked the form and passed it to the Town Clerk. Town Clerk Mendez announced that the two (2) highest ranking candidates were Caryn Gardner- Young and Richard Reade. Mayor Michaud asked what the next steps are. Town Attorney Baird stated that background checks would be conducted. At a meeting in October the Commission would need to select from the two candidates who they want to begin negotiations with. Ms. Higginbotham announced that they would begin the background checks and would have the information back to the Commission in 10-days to two weeks. The Commission chose to have the contract on the October 16th meeting. Ms. Higginbotham was directed to make the announcement to the candidates in the Mirror Ballroom.