04-03-90SpMtg APRIL 3, 1990
A Special Meeting of the City Commission of the City of Delray
Beach, Florida, was called to order by Mayor Thomas Lynch in the Commis-
sion Chambers at City Hall at 6:05 P.M., Tuesday, April 3, 1990.
Roll call showed:
Present - Commissioner Jay Alperin
Commissioner William Andrews
Commissioner Mary McCarty
Commissioner David Randolph
Mayor Thomas Lynch
Absent - None
Also present were - Interim City Manager Robert Barcinski and
Assistant City Attorney Jeffrey Kurtz.
Mayor Lynch called the meeting to order and announced that this
meeting has been called for the purpose of (1) Selection of Candidate to
fill City Manager position; (2) Purchase of Two Auxiliary Disk Storage
Units in the amount of $34,778 with funding from Management Information
Systems Capital Outlay (Account No. 001-1811-513-60.86).
Assistant City Attorney Kurtz clarified the new Local Rules
which have been adopted. He advised roll call will be by alphabetical
order pursuant to Robert's Rules of Order and then the first motion on
which a vote is taken will begin with Seat #1, the next vote Seat #2
begins, and so forth. They will begin each and every meeting in this
manner with Seat #I.
1. Dr. Alperin suggested, as a beginning, writing down the name of
each Commissioner's first choice, rather than presenting their opinions
of each candidate. Mr. Andrews stated he would like to see at least
two.
Mayor Lynch suggested they indicate three names; write down
first, second and third choice, sign it and pass it to the Assistant
City Attorney. That way no one will feel coerced and can discuss the
candidates openly.
Ms. McCarty recommended, as far as tallying, to just make a
motion and see if there are three votes after discussion, so there is
none of that ranking problem.
Dr. Alperin advised that after evaluating all five of the
candidates he felt very strongly that one stood out in the ideals he was
looking for. He selected Robert Elliott as he felt his experience was
varied enough and his knowledge of the responsibility of the job was
broad enough to work well in our community.
Mr. Randolph stated his first choice would be David Harden. In
going through his resume and questioning him in detail on many of the
things he believed the people in this City need, his name kept popping
up as his number one choice. His only problem with Mr. Harden was that
he appeared not to be vocal enough; however, his strength in the Winter
Park area appeared to be very strong and he came up with quite a few
savings for that particular area.
Mr. Andrews advised he would have to go with Mr. Harden, the
reason being there are two things that basically the City government
functions on - service to the public and maintaining its infrastructure.
They have 45 million dollars worth of projects coming on line in the
next five years and he would have a very high comfort level with the
ability of Mr. Harden to make sure that the City gets the value for its
dollar. Mr. Andrews stated he felt Mr. Harden is exceptionally quali-
fied in the area of evaluating sophisticated contracts in everything
from ball fields to road work, etc.
Ms. McCarty stated she would strongly recommend Mr. Elliott as
he has the varied background the City is looking for in a City Manager.
She believes he has the personality that will fit in well with this
community, experience with a minority community to draw upon, has worked
in more than one city and feels his ability to work one on one, either
with staff or the public, is very good. Mr. Harden was her second
choice; however, he has only worked in one city, having been a Planner
and promoted from within. Winter Park is a very homogeneous community
and very stable economically and she did not know what background he
would have to draw upon to manage a city like Delray Beach. Ms. McCarty
advised she felt the City Manager is a very outward position in this
community and they need someone who can draw upon a lot of experience in
order to work on the problems that Delray Beach faces.
Mayor Lynch stated the choices were difficult. After the
second day he continued to keep Mr. Elliott his first choice with a very
close second to Mr. Harden. The things that impressed him most about
Mr. Elliott and which he felt were necessary to be a good City Manager
were (1) dealing with personnel; (2) dealing with financing and (3)
dealing with diplomacy. Mr. Elliott seemed to have an empathy for
personnel and learning from one another; he seemed to have a much more
consistent feeling on how to do a budget in a creative way; and the way
in which he handled himself in the two days he was here was very consis-
tent indicating a diplomatic style.
Mr. Randolph stated Mr. Harden is still his first choice;
however, he felt they would surely want to be unanimous in their vote.
Mr. Andrews advised he had Mr. Elliott as his second choice up
until today when he spoke with several people in Oklahoma, a person in
the Chamber of Commerce and a sitting Commissioner. He can work with
Mr. Elliott; however, he was told that he pushed some issues on the
Commission beyond what they thought was appropriate. Mr. Andrews
commented that we have had a City Manager as a PR agent, so to speak, in
the community and he just wants a man in the office doing the job; the
Commissioners or the Mayor can go out and sell the programs.
Following discussion on the candidates, Ms. McCarty moved to
direct the City Attorney to negotiate a contract with Robert Elliott,
seconded by Dr. Alperin. Upon roll call the Commission voted as fol-
lows: Dr. Alperin - Yes; Mr. Andrews - Yes; Ms. McCarty - Yes; Mr.
Randolph - Yes; Mayor Lynch - Yes. Said motion passed with a 5 to 0
vote.
Mayor Lynch asked if they should have a second choice to be
ready in case they don't come to a negotiation. Assistant City Attorney
Kurtz advised they have the goal setting sessions, at which if there is
a problem, they could set a special meeting quickly. Also, there is a
Regular Meeting next Tuesday, so if things break down there will be
several opportunities to go to a second choice.
Assistant City Attorney Kurtz stated he has furnished the
Commission with a sample employment agreement. It was the general
consensus of the Commission that they wished to have a contract with the
City Manager. Discussion followed with regard to the term of the
contract. Ms. McCarty stated she felt they needed to have a closed end
contract as that gives all parties concerned a smooth transition.
Assistant City Attorney Kurtz recommended that with regard to Sec. 3,
dealing with suspension, his office's feeling is that to suspend a City
Manager does not make a lot of sense; either terminate or allow him to
continue in the position and give whatever direction is appropriate. A
potential suspension has the effect of undercutting the Manager's
authority. The Commission concurred.
Mr. Randolph suggested giving the Manager a cosmetic period of
time of approximately six months to get his feet on the ground; after
that, a real hard rating of his abilities. The Assistant City Attorney
commented that this would be, in effect, an evaluation after six months
and would not necessarily reflect on the term of the contract. If, at
that point in time, they were of a mind to extend the contract they can
do that at any point; he is not really sure this concern really needs to
be addressed in the term of the contract.
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Discussion followed on salary. Upon question, Ken Ellingsworth
of the Selection Committee, advised he believed the salary range adver-
tised was $75,000 to $80,000. Dr. Alperin commented that Mr. Elliott
was looking for a 20 to 25 percent increase; he is currently making
$60,100. Mayor Lynch suggested they start negotiating at $70,000.
With regard to moving expenses, the Assistant City Attorney
stated previously they incorporated a requirement upon them to go out
and get at least two bids. The second part of that is the City gives
them assistance with temporary living quarters with a cap on that of up
to $2500 for six months.
Ms. McCarty suggested encouraging Mr. Elliott to attend the
Goal Setting sessions the end of this week; she felt it would be worth-
while for him to familiarize himself with the City if he is inclined to
work things out. The Assistant City Attorney stated he would extend the
invitation.
2. The Interim City Manager reported this item is a request for
approval for the Management Information Systems Department to purchase
two 9335 rank mounted disk units which will increase the System 38
storage capacity by 1,170 meg. The cost of this is $34,778 and funding
is in the budget.
Upon question, Richard Zuccaro, Director of MIS, advised they
selected this drive because it is compatible with the next upgrade to
their system, the AS 400. They have a Utility Billing system which uses
an excessive lot of storage plus a Purchasing system coming on the same
fiscal year.
Ms. McCarty moved for the purchase of the two auxiliary disk
storage units in the amount of $34,778, seconded by Mr. Randolph. Upon
roll call the Commission voted as follows: Dr. Alperin - Yes; Mr.
Andrews - Yes; Ms. McCarty - Yes; Mr. Randolph - Yes; Mayor Lynch - Yes.
Said motion passed with a 5 to 0 vote.
Before roll call the following discussion was had:
Dr. Alperin questioned the cost per meg and asked if any
comparisons had been done on costs. Mr. Zuccaro reported this is on
State contract and the best price they could get.
At this point the roll was called to the motion.
Ms. McCarty moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:47 P.M.
- ~Ci~ Clerk- /
ATTEST
The undersigned is the City Clerk of the City of Delray Beach
and that the information provided herein is the minutes of the meeting
of said City Commission of April 3, 1990, which minutes were formally
approved and adopted by the City Commission on
;
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NOTE TO READER:
If the minutes that you have received are not completed as indicated
above, then this means that these are not the official minutes of City
Commission. They will become the official minutes only after they have
been reviewed and approved which may involve some amendments, additions,
or deletions to the minutes as set forth above.
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