City Council

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MANISTEE CITY COUNCIL – MARCH 11, 2021 A special meeting of the Manistee City Council was called to order by his honor, Mayor Roger Zielinski on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 6:00 pm in the Ramsdell Theatre, 101 Maple Street, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. PRESENT: David Bachman, Lynda Beaton, Roger Zielinski, Jermaine Sullivan, Michael Szymanski, James Grabowski, and Erin Martin Pontiac ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: City Manager – Thad Taylor, City Clerk – Heather Pefley, Police Chief – Josh Glass, and Fire Chief – Mark Cameron CITIZEN COMMENTS ON AGENDA RELATED ITEMS Chris Shilts, 500 Second Street – expressed concerns with including a social media background check as part of the recruitment process to identify the new city manager. Tom Amor, 432 Fourth Street – presented a letter to Council outlining questions he would like to see included in the interview process for the new city manager. Vidar Lerum, 445 Cedar Street – offered the abilities he would like to see in the new city manager. PROFILING SESSION WITH CITY COUNCIL AS PART OF THE PROCESS FOR IDENTIFYING A NEW CITY MANAGER Michigan Municipal League Search Facilitator Glenn Anderson gave a brief background of his work history and provided an overview of the process that will be used to identify the new city manager. Earlier in the day he met with department directors to discuss what they would like to see in the next city manager. Input from the profiling session with Council and department directors will be used to develop an advertisement for the position to be published nationwide. The timeline for the entire process is approximately 4 weeks from the date of advertisement. As part of the profiling session, Council was asked to provide input on challenges and opportunities within the City, and what personality, temperament, and qualifications they would like to see in the next city manager. No action was taken. CITIZEN COMMENT Tom Amor, 432 Fourth Street – commended Council on their discussion at tonight’s meeting. OFFICIALS AND STAFF Taylor indicated he recently had a conversation with Marc Miller, Economic Development Director, who stated there are five entrepreneurs interested in the downtown district but have been unsuccessful in locating places to rent. He emphasized that the current number of vacant buildings in the downtown is not due to a lack of effort. | Page 1  PROCEEDINGS OF THE MANISTEE CITY COUNCIL – MARCH 11, 2021 COUNCILMEMBERS Zielinski thanked everyone for their attendance and discussion. ADJOURN MOTION by Grabowski, second by Szymanski to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 7:18 pm. Heather Pefley MiPMC/CMC City Clerk | Page 2