SPECIAL MEETING

of the

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA

June 10, 2022

The following is a non-verbatim transcript of the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA, held at 9:30 a.m., on Friday, June 10, 2022, in Room 1028 of the SEMINOLE COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING at SANFORD, FLORIDA, the usual place of meeting of said Board.

Present:

Chairman Bob Dallari (District 1)

Vice Chairman Lee Constantine (District 3)

Commissioner Jay Zembower (District 2)

Commissioner Amy Lockhart (District 4)

Commissioner Andria Herr (District 5)

Interim County Manager Bryant Applegate

Acting County Attorney Paul Chipok

Deputy Clerk Terri Porter

OPENING CEREMONIES

Pastor John Murphy, Ph.D., Harvest Time International, Sanford, gave the invocation. Commissioner Zembower led the Pledge of Allegiance.

PUBLIC INTERVIEWS OF COUNTY MANAGER CANDIDATES

Interim County Manager Bryant Applegate explained they have three candidates to be interviewed by the Board and then public comment will follow.

Bob Slavin, Slavin Management Consultants, addressed the Board to introduce the three candidates for the vacant county manager position. He explained they will be introduced in alphabetical order. The following candidates were interviewed by the Board: Doc Doughtery, currently the city manager of Garden City, Michigan; Steve Howard, currently the county administrator of Camden County, Georgia; and Terry Suggs, currently the county administrator of Putnam County.

With regard to public participation, Nancy Harmon gave her opinion about each candidate and noted she would prefer they continue to search for a better fit. Cindy Haller submitted an email with her thoughts about the selection of a county manager (received and filed). No one else spoke in support or opposition, and public input was closed. Speaker Comment Form was received and filed.

BOARD DISCUSSION

Mr. Applegate explained the Board can discuss this now as opposed to waiting until the next BCC meeting.

Paul Chipok, Acting County Attorney, explained the process for the Board stating they have the ability to move forward today and make a decision. If they decide to choose one of the individuals today, staff will then negotiate with them and hopefully have a final contract for consideration on June 14th or they can choose to move in a different direction which they can also discuss today. Commissioner Lockhart noted she was the one that had asked to have a break between the interviews and the decision; but if the majority of the Board is comfortable with having discussions today, she is agreeable to that.

Chairman Dallari opined that he has no problem discussing it today, and he believes they have consensus to do that. He thanked all the applicants and Mr. Slavin. He said he feels that everyone interviewed well, but the fit from the three candidates is not right, and he would like to go back out on the street.

Commissioner Zembower stated he enjoyed interacting with all the candidates and he thinks they are all good people and good at what they do. He struggles with where they want to be as a county and thinks they need someone to take them to the next level. Although all the candidates can do the job, he does not know that one is a superstar that could just reach up and pull them to the next level that they need to go at this point.

Commissioner Lockhart said she also enjoyed meeting all three candidates and opined they are delightful and they have all accomplished a lot in their communities, and there is probably a lot they could do and accomplish in Seminole County as well. But for this time in this organization and with what their needs are, she does not see the fit being there. She would like to not just go out for a new search, she would like to go out for a new search firm and start back at the beginning phase. She knows that may take a little longer, but in terms of giving direction to staff for coming back with options, she thinks they need to have a broader look at the search firm choices.

Commissioner Zembower commented that they may need to have a discussion about the interim, where they are now, where they are moving to, and what process they would move forward in trying to recruit someone.

Commissioner Herr indicated she agrees with everything that has been said so far, and therefore does not feel compelled to repeat it. She stated in addition to starting at the beginning in terms of hiring another search firm, they actually need to establish a process on their end for this event, and she feels a lot of where they are is because they thought the search firm should have the process established, and she thinks the search firm thought the County should have had the process established. It goes back to the very beginning of letting an RFP out for a firm; that well needs to be primed and then the well needs to be primed for candidates. She added this is a sales opportunity-101 and they have to build a funnel, and the funnel had not been built from the very beginning of the process. So, they really need to rethink it internally so that they execute on their side with excellence, which will create an excellent outcome. She thinks they missed the boat on this from the very beginning and that is on them, not on the firm, not on the candidates, and not on those that applied. Commissioner Zembower agreed.

Commissioner Constantine said he will also not repeat what the others have said because he believes they have consensus. He believes these are fine and wonderful people with a great deal of integrity. He thinks he could have worked with any of them, but like the rest of the Board, each one of them was looking for “inspiration, challenge, innovation, vision,” whatever they want to call it. He did not see the fit. He thinks in regard to moving forward internally, it has been stabilized with Mr. Applegate and the other staff, the Interim County Manager and Deputy and Assistant County Managers. He knows they all have a work burden, but he feels comfortable in what they are doing right now and that they could continue doing it. He does believe in addressing what Commissioner Herr stated, he thinks they need staff to come back with a recommendation as to how they move forward and sitting down and discussing that to see if that jives with what the Board sees. With all due respect to the candidates, they want someone that is going to help bring them to the next level.

Motion by Commissioner Constantine, seconded by Commissioner Lockhart, to first send a letter of appreciation and thanks to the candidates for their time and effort informing them that none are being chosen at this time, and to send a letter of thanks to Mr. Slavin for his hard work and effort; and then have staff come back with a recommendation at the next BCC meeting as to how they proceed further.

Under discussion, Mr. Applegate suggested they set a time on a future agenda where the board members can share what they would like the process to be, which would help staff with going out for an RFP.

Commissioner Constantine opined they need to start with something and they can change it, but that is why he suggested staff bring back a recommendation. He really felt that Tuesday was the day that they would sit down and give their pros and cons wherever they are going, and then they will come to a consensus on how they would move forward.

Commissioner Herr stated she thinks they need an outline of (a) what they are going to do in the interim, because while she appreciates that one of them may be completely comfortable with the current, she is not sure that everybody that needs to be completely comfortable with the current is completely comfortable with the current. They need an outline of what that looks like to include a duration of how long they think that would last. And then (b), they need an outline of what they think the next steps are for going to market for the consultant and then going to market for candidates. She reiterated it is about building the funnel. It does not have to be that detailed, but just some basics including span of time and tactical steps that have to be taken.

Mr. Applegate confirmed he is clear on the motion.

Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 voted AYE.

Commissioner Herr said she believes they should have HR send out a thank you letter to each of the candidates. They said some nice things about them here on the dais and it would be nice for them to have a letter that puts a period at the end of the sentence. Chairman Dallari stated they will send out letters from the Board.

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There being no further business to come before the Board, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m., this same date.

ATTEST:_____________________________Clerk___________________________Chairman

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