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August 20 2019 Special City Commission Minutes_FINAL w signature pageTuesday, August 20, 2019 1:00 PM City of Delray Beach 100 NW 1st Avenue - Delray Beach, Florida 33444 Phone: (561) 243-7000 - Fax: (561) 243-3774 www.mydelraybeach.com Delray Beach City Hall City Commission Mayor Shelly Petrolia Vice Mayor Shirley Ervin Johnson Deputy Vice Mayor Bill Bathurst Commissioner Adam Frankel Commissioner Ryan Boylston Minutes - Final Special Meeting at 1:00 PM August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final Pursuant to Section 3.12 of the Charter of the City of Delray Beach the Mayor has instructed me to announce a Special Meeting of the City Commission to be held for the following purposes: Mayor Petrolia called the Special Meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. The roll call was taken by the City Clerk. The following were in attendance: Mayor Shelly Petrolia Vice Mayor Shirley Ervin Johnson Deputy Vice Mayor Bill Bathurst Commissioner Adam Frankel Commissioner Ryan Boylston Others present were: Neal de Jesus, Interim City Manager Lynn Gelin, City Attorney Katerri Johnson, City Clerk Page 1City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final SP.1.19-832 CITY MANAGER FINALIST INTERVIEWS Body:Recommended Action: Recommendation:The City Commission will interview the three finalists below: - Michael C. Cernech - George Gretsas - Joseph Napoli Final selection of the City Manager position will be made at the August 20, 2019, 4:00 p.m. Regular City Commission Meeting. Agenda Cover Report Cernech, Michael Gretsas, George Napoli, Joseph Attachments: Robert Burg, Ralph Andersen & Associates, Executive Recruiter, stated his firm completed a national recruitment which resulted in 50 applications; 2 applicants withdrew which then left 48 applications. Mr. Burg stated he screened 8 of those 48 applicants and recommended the top 5 and then the City Commission selected the top 3, which the City Commission will be interviewing today. He explained that today is a 30 minute session including an introduction from each finalist, and a 20 minute question and answer from the City Commission. Mr. Burg introduced Mr. George Gretsas. Mr. George Gretsas briefly spoke about his credentials and background. The City Commission asked questions of Mr. Gretsas. Mr. Burg introduced Joseph Napoli. Mr. Joseph Napoli briefly spoke about his credentials and background. The City Commission asked questions of Mr. Napoli. Mr. Burg introduced Mr. Michael Cernech. Page 2City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final Mr. Michael Cernech briefly spoke about his credentials and background. The City Commission asked questions of Mr. Cernech. Page 3City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final SP.2. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Petrolia declared the public comments open. Dorothy Ellington, President/CEO of the Delray Beach Housing Authority (DBHA), urged the City Commission as they make their decision, that the successful candidate understands the role that government plays in making housing affordable. Ms. Ellington stated the Delray Beach Housing Authority has met with over 200 families over the last couple of weeks who are interested in buying a house in Delray Beach. Ms. Ellington commented that one of the City's goals is quality neighborhoods and they want to make sure that housing in Delray Beach is affordable to our children and that they would want to come back to Delray Beach to live. Cindi Freeburn, 1740 N.W. 22nd Avenue, Delray Beach, stated she felt it was important to do a nationwide search and she expressed her disappointment that there were no women or minority candidates. Ms. Freeburn stated important initiatives before Delray Beach are best served by those issues which are: (1) being a coastal city, (2) sustainability, (3) tourism, (4) experience with the type of diversity Delray Beach has (i.e., racial diversity and the high income and low income diversity). Ms. Freeburn stated the residents are looking to hire someone that executes rather than a CEO who takes charge and makes decisions in an organization because she feels this is up to the City Commission to do. Ms. Freeburn stated she feels the experience in Tamarac is not as relevant to our coastal city with tourism, history, sustainability. Michael Wind, 1540 N.W. 8th Avenue, Delray Beach, stated in his opinion the most important thing in town is the Police Department and he expressed concern that they are underpaid. Mr. Wind commented about the crime statistics in Delray Beach due to the rehab, etc. Mr. Wind stated the former City Manager was not available to the public and he expressed concern that if the next City Manager is not going to be available to the public, then he may not be in the position long either. There being no one else from the public who wished to speak, Mayor Petrolia closed the public comments. Mayor Petrolia thanked Interim City Manager de Jesus for getting this entire process going. Also, Mayor Petrolia thanked Mr. Robert Burg and noted that his communication with the City Commission was superb. Mayor Petrolia gave a special thanks to Delores Rangel, Executive Secretary for the City Commission, for doing an amazing job of working the schedule out so the City Commission could go through their interview process, for coordinating the lunch efforts, and for coordinating all the Page 4City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final places that Mayor Petrolia was going to tour with the candidates. Mayor Petrolia thanked Suzanne Fisher, Assistant City Manager who also helped with coordinating the food in between the golf course and here. Mayor Petrolia thanked everyone on the tour Marisa Herman from the Cornell Museum, Renee Jadusingh, Director of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), Marjorie Waldo from the Arts Garage, Stephanie Immelman and her Board from the Chamber of Commerce, John Miller and Vickie Sachs from the Historical Society and Old School Square for hosting the "Meet and Greet" venue. The City Commissioners each gave brief comments regarding the three finalists. Vice Mayor Johnson thanked Delores Rangel, Executive Secretary for the City Commission, for doing an outstanding job in so many ways and she also thanked Mr. Burg for his efforts. Vice Mayor Johnson stated the City Manager runs the City and noted Delray Beach has had 8 City Manager's (Chief de Jesus twice) since 2013. Mr. Burg confirmed with Commissioner Boylston that there were two minority candidates in the top 8; however, 2 of them withdrew. Commissioner Boylston noted that if you count the Dowtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), 8 out of 12 department heads in Delray Beach are minority led. Commissioner Boylston stated this was not just looking at who is the best candidate, but who is the best candidate for Delray Beach. Deputy Vice Mayor Bathurst also thanked Mr. Burg, Delores Rangel, Executive Secretary for the City Commission, and Interim City Manager de Jesus. Deputy Vice Mayor Bathurst stated there was a survey done of the employees and Mr. Burg took time to match these candidates to the desires of the survey. Deputy Vice Mayor Bathurst stated these three candidates met the criteria that Delray Beach and the Delray Beach employees were looking for. He thanked Mr. Burg for making this a great part of his recruiting effort. Commissioner Frankel thanked Mr. Burg for bringing three great candidates that could fulfill this job. Vice Mayor Johnson stated there were approximately 10 citizens who agreed to meet with her directly after they met the candidates. She stated they sat in the historic Williams Cottage and hashed out their impressions of the candidates during the "Meet and Greet". Mayor Petrolia thanked the citizens for showing up last night at the "Meet Page 5City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 August 20, 2019City Commission Minutes - Final and Greet" and today to be part of this process. A brief discussion between the City Commissioners and City Attorney followed with respect to the ranking of the candidates. There being no further business to discuss, Mayor Petrolia adjourned the Special Meeting at 3:11 p.m. Page 6City of Delray Beach Printed on 2/3/2020 ciy pi6 ATTEST: i. OR The undersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, and the information provided herein is the Minutes of the August 20, 2019 Regular Meeting held on August 20, 2019, which Minutes were formally approved and adopted by the City Commission on November 5, 2019. cyCieri NOTE TO READER: If the Minutes you have received are not completed as indicated above, this means they are not the official Minutes of the City Commission. They will become the official Minutes only after review and approval which may involve some amendments, additions or deletions as set forth above.