July 31, 2009 Special

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

July 31, 2009

The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, met in special session on July 31, 2009 at 1:13 p.m. in the Government Center Florida Room, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Florida. Present were: Chairman Chuck Nelson, Commissioners Robin Fisher, Trudie Infantini, Mary Bolin, and Andy Anderson, and County Attorney Scott Knox.

APPROVAL, RE: RATIFICATION OF TENTATIVE GENERAL FUND MILLAGE RATE

Stockton Whitten, Interim County Manager, advised at the July 28, 2009 Board meeting, staff misstated the General Countywide Millage; the figure was stated as 3.7163; and for rounding purposes, and in order to maintain the aggregate millage rate of 5.4720, the ratification needs to be for a General Fund Rate of 3.7161.

Motion by Commissioner Bolin, seconded by Commissioner Anderson, to ratify the General Fund Tentative Millage Rate approved at the July 28, 2009 Board meeting. Motion carried and ordered; Commissioners Nelson and Fisher voted nay.

Chairman Nelson stated he would like to clarify something; the Florida TODAY, stated the Board was talking about raising taxes; the Board was arguing over whether or not it was going to reduce the budget by $30 million or $40 million; and it is not about raising taxes, as it is about how deeply the Board is going to cut. He stated it is unfortunate it was stated that way in the newspaper; but the Board is making significant cuts under the circumstances; and he just wanted to clarify that for the record.

Commissioner Fisher stated rolling up the millage did not mean that some people were going to have a tax increase over 2008; and that was also misleading in the newspaper.

Commissioner Infantini stated she would like to clarify for the record that if the Board did not hold the millage rate the exact same, it would have been an increase in taxes. Chairman Nelson stated he is not sure how Commissioner Infantini figures that out.

REPORT, RE: CITIZEN APPOINTEE FOR THE VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD

Commissioner Infantini stated the Board needs to appoint a new citizen appointee for the Value Adjustment Board; the Value Adjustment Board had its first organizational meeting yesterday; the previous citizen appointee has to vacate the seat; a new individual will need to be appointed by the County Commission; and the position will need to be advertised.

Commissioner Infantini stated the new software for the Value Adjustment Board will be discussed on Tuesday, August 04, 2009; stated School Board member Amy Kneesey has agreed to take the issue to the School Board; and she has asked that the item not be pulled off the Agenda in case the School Board agrees it would like to help fund the software and get it in place this year.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: REVIEW PROCEDURES

Colin Baenziger, Baenziger and Associates, advised normally the candidates are given a few minutes to introduce themselves; the Commissioners have already met the candidates through one-on-one interviews; but since today’s meeting is televised, it would be good if the candidates introduce themselves to the television audience; and then typically, the Chairman will turn to one end of the dais or the other and ask if anyone would like to start with a question, and then rotate around the dais asking one or two questions. He stated he will let the Board know when 25 minutes are up; and at the end of the interview, the Board will give the candidates a minute to wrap up in case there are any questions or comments for the Board.

Chairman Nelson stated there is an article in the Florida TODAY about the process; and he would like the County Attorney, Scott Knox, to clarify that because there was a misconception that somehow there was a violation of Sunshine Law.

County Attorney Scott Knox advised he read the article; although he has deep respect for Ms. Peterson, he does not agree with her opinion that the one-on-one meeting with the candidates and each Commissioner would be a violation of the Sunshine Law; and he thinks the process is appropriate.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – KATHY HARRIS

Kathy Harris stated she currently resides in Valrico, Hillsborough County; she expressed appreciation to the Board for the opportunity to try to become the next County Manager; and stated her background is such that she does not think there is an issue facing Brevard County’s jurisdiction that she has not had to deal with around the State of Florida, in working with the government, non-profit community, or the private sector. She stated she can provide strong and good leadership to the community, and be a very strong CEO to the Board of Directors, which is the Board of County Commissioners; she had an opportunity to meet with the County’s top leadership and hear some of their concerns and interests; and she feels comfortable that she can provide staff with leadership as well. She advised she is a member of the Florida Bar Association and a lawyer; she has had an opportunity to serve in very high profile positions, and so there has been a lot written about her in the newspaper; and as the Board knows from this morning’s article, it is not always correct; but she feels it is important to have someone come in who can withstand the pressure of the job; and her background proves she can do that. She stated her general attitude about government is to manage and lead from the perspective that government needs to compete at the speed of change; and there are some specific things that are done to make that happen.

Commissioner Fisher stated Ms. Harris’ legal experience is something that not every candidate has; and inquired how her legal experience will help as a County Manager. Ms. Harris replied she went to law school while she was an Assistant in Broward County; it is helpful to have a law degree in terms of reading research and understanding all of the laws; but there is a clear distinction between being an administrator and being a lawyer; and in making the transition to County Manager, it is because she no longer wants to be a lawyer. She stated she is a much better administrator than lawyer; and the skill sets come with her, but she is not interested in practicing law.

Commissioner Infantini stated the Board is facing a budget shortfall; inquired how Ms. Harris would address the budget shortfall and the fact that some services may not be able to be delivered; and what kind of ideas Ms. Harris has going forward to have the most efficient use of resources available. Ms. Harris responded she has had a chance to look at the Board’s budget, and she reviewed a tape of the previous Budget Workshop; clearly, there are challenges ahead for the departments and for the County; she brings to the table a belief that every year should start with a zero-based budget; the job of the administrator is to bring back to the Board an activity-based budget based on the zero-based budget, so the Board has a clear understanding of what every dime in the budget is being spent on; and it also helps staff to understand their jobs and resources for their jobs. She stated right now is a period of time where many services, particularly that were provided by the State or the Federal government, have been cut; unfortunately, there is going to be a segment of the population who is used to those services, but they do not draw the distinction of who is funding them and who is not; and another thing she would bring to the table is the ability to value the explanation of the budget in simple terms so that the public understands it. She stated she believes strongly in telling the Board the absolute truth about the budget, giving it her recommendation, and then implementing what the Board votes as the policy direction to move forward; it is not going to be an easy process for the next couple of years; it is going to be tougher than it is right now; but it is something she has been successful at in the past in terms of looking at consolidating services and what services are the core business of the government, what services can be done in partnership with the private sector or the non-profit community, and what services can be sought to seek an alternative revenue stream for; and those are all weighty issues that require working through the budget process, not in a three-month or four-month period, but every day, year round.

Commissioner Bolin stated when talking about the budget, it is facts and figures and hard numbers; but also, the County Manager is going to be in a position that is going to be the go-between; and inquired what are some of the skills Ms. Harris feels she has to be able to balance the staff and the Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Harris responded as the County Manager, it is her job to put forth the whole idea of everyone being on the same team; there is no us against them; the Boards’ interests should be the same interests as everyone else; certainly, there are differences of opinions amongst the policies, but ultimately, once the Board makes its decision, it is her job to make sure staff understands it and then implements it. She stated one of the things important in government is that one must be willing to lose in order to win; if one comes into a position with that attitude, then nothing is personal; and her approach is to be open and honest. She stated she mentioned to the Commissioners before that she has open staff meetings; she believes every employee is entitled to have a consistent and regular meeting with their supervisor; and that way, anything that happens at a Board meeting comes through her people, and on down through the entire organization. She stated also, pertaining to the budget, each person must understand what their task is and how it relates to the decisions made by the Board; it seems like a bureaucratic process, but it works out well; and after everyone gets used to it, they are very comfortable knowing they are really a part of the team.

Commissioner Anderson stated at the end of the day, they are all public servants here to serve the community; and inquired as far as communications with the residents of Brevard County and building a rapport and trust with them, what actions would Ms. Harris take to initiate a more open government. Ms. Harris replied she thinks herself and the Board wants to make sure they are a government of the people; everything the Board does, it needs to inform the residents to give them an opportunity to participate; and ultimately, the bottom line every day is accountability back to the people being served. She noted it was very easy for her to research past meetings on the County website; those kinds of things need to continue; but there also needs to be a strong message to the community as to what is about to come up and how they can participate in the process; and there needs to be an open door policy to the public. She stated there are some segments of the community that the Board has to reach out particularly to because maybe those citizens are not available during the day; it would be important for her and her staff to make themselves available to the community at odd hours and on the weekends; and a part of having a partnership with the private sector means government has to meet them where they are most comfortable.

Chairman Nelson stated his question is hypothetical in order to understand how Ms. Harris views things. He stated the County Charter clearly defines responsibilities of the County Commissioners and it clearly defines the responsibility of the County Manager; the Charter also clearly establishes the separation between the two; and inquired what Ms. Harris’ reaction would be if one of the Commissioners gave her a direction that was inconsistent with those separations. Ms. Harris responded she wants to always be the manager that makes every Commissioner feel comfortable in coming to talk to her; she also wants to be the manager that every member of the Board feels like if there is a problem or if something needs to be done, the quickest and best way to get it done is through the manager, not through working through the departments or through the employees; but she also wants every employee to feel like they can also come to her and that she is not a barrier between her and the Board. She stated getting to the core of Chairman Nelson’s question requires trust between the Board and the County Manager, and trust between the staff and the County Manager; she will go a long way towards building that trust; but she also believes there has to be a system in which if a Commissioner feels like they need to go to a low-level employee to get a straight answer, then there is a problem; and as the County Manager, she needs to be willing to address that head-on. She stated it is easy sometimes to lose sight of the importance of the separation of the power; and it is a good thing for the CEO to have her clearly defined Charter requirements, but it is even more important for the elected body because the Board controls, through its policy making, everything that happens throughout the organization. She advised if during meetings she has provided the Board with all the information, the various alternatives, and then leave it in the hands of the Board to make the final decision, and then she and her staff understand that, she will implement what the Board has voted on; the Board needs to embrace that and understand why it is better for the Board to be making policy decisions than individual decisions, and certainly better for the staff not to make policy decisions. She noted it is going to take a bit of a change in the culture in Brevard County, but she thinks there is a willingness to do it.

Commissioner Fisher stated Ms. Harris mentioned she watched some previous Board meetings; and inquired how Ms. Harris would go about building strong relationships with the Commissioners and getting everyone on the same team. Ms. Harris replied she will have to build trust; there is a history in Brevard County where people may not feel comfortable with the County Manager in that role; she will work diligently on building trust; she will not be someone who counts votes, or makes her recommendations based on what she thinks she can get passed; she thinks it is better for everyone if she gives the Board all the information and informs the Board of the pros and cons of all the alternatives; and then she would wait for the Board, as a policy group, to make the decision; but she will never get in the middle of the Board’s political arguments. She stated she feels she will have a good opportunity to get to know each of the Commissioners and present herself and ideas and concepts in an honest way that the Board is going to trust that.

Commissioner Infantini stated frequently, the Board has the opportunity as Commissioners to receive staff briefings on various Agenda items; one issue is that if only being presented one side of a point of view, then there is not much time to hear the other point of view during a regularly scheduled Commission meeting; and inquired how Ms. Harris feels about addressing County Commissioners by briefing them on all the Agenda items prior to a meeting, rather than having the Agenda item itself stand on its own. Ms. Harris responded that is a problem that various counties have handled in different ways; any Agenda can have 100 items on it; she would not want briefings on every item every week; there may be one or two items that are big ticket items in which a Commissioner may pull an item through a public process, and then each of the Commissioners would have an opportunity to be briefed on that particular item before the meeting or at the meeting. She stated she thinks it adds to the distrust when there is the appearance of a secret briefing; and she would not be doing any of that. She stated something else that can be done is to make sure the Commissioners get all back-up information on an Agenda item; and if that is done, there is no need for a briefing

Commissioner Bolin inquired how Ms. Harris sees her role as County Manager relating to the community in general. Ms. Harris replied she sees herself as the CEO of the corporation; the public are the consumers who pay all the bills; she wants to be very much involved as a CEO of a corporation, as someone who can participate in meetings and provide information and keep the public informed; and her door is always open to the public to set up meetings to discuss things with her. She stated it is not an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. job; it is seven days a week, and the hours are very flexible; and if the public feels like the Board and the County Manager are open it makes for a much better relationship, even when the Board makes a recommendation the public may not like.

Commissioner Anderson stated the frontline employees interface with the public most often, and they have experienced layoffs, hiring freezes, furloughs, and a possible shift in insurance costs; it has had an effect on the morale of the employees; and inquired how Ms. Harris would deal with morale building for the employees. Ms. Harris responded the entire community, State and nation is dealing with layoffs and furloughs; stated she treats everyone the way she would want to be treated, even in the most complicated of decisions; and if employees were to be laid off, she would not want them to read about it in the newspaper. She stated the frontline employees should know before herself and the Board when there is a problem with the service; the employees are seeing that the community is suffering; and having the employees involved in the decision making and attending meetings to understand their part of the budget and how it is funded will help with the decision making; but ultimately it will be her job to go before staff and tell them the hard decisions that have been made. She stated in Broward County she had the opportunity to transition out children’s services and mental health services; it was done through having first the staff competing against the non-profit community; in those particular areas, staff lost; and so there was a transition of employees to the non-profit community.

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Ms. Harris is saying she would privatize a couple of departments through a Request for Proposal; with Ms. Harris responding affirmatively. Ms. Harris stated if it makes sense for someone else to provide the service and they can provide the level of service the Board wants at a cheaper rate, these are the times when that shift is made; and it is something she thinks the Board should look at.

Chairman Nelson inquired if Ms. Harris is hired, what would be the first thing she would do on her first day on the job. Ms. Harris responded she would want to meet with all of the department directors and Commissioners; it would be a day of meetings; in 30 days she would hope to accomplish a better understanding of the budget; and she would implement things that would make for a year-long budget process so that it is not as constricted as it is now. She stated she would also want to hear the Commissioners’ expectations for her in the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job to make sure she is carrying out the things they want done. She stated many of the Commissioners have asked her in the individual meetings what she thinks the core business is of the County; and she would be asking the Board that question as well.

Ms. Harris stated she is a very strong leader; she is a strong person in terms of her belief that a government can be streamlined and efficient; and it is her belief that the people who work for the government can make that happen with the right leadership. She stated she believes the Board serves as the corporate body; and it would be her pleasure to serve as its CEO.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – RANDY WITT

Randy Witt advised he has had four years experience in county government, working with over 30 county departments; and the rest of his background is different military and some private business. He stated he is the co-owner of a company that does overseas projects with the military; he has an interest in job satisfaction; and he gets that satisfaction by organizing, managing goals and objectives, and accomplishing objectives and goals; and he tries to build a team and make it the best possible. He stated county government is public service; and he believes the public deserves good service and good government.

Commissioner Infantini inquired when Mr. Witt worked in Miami for county government, what was his single biggest contribution to the county government.

Mr. Witt stated he worked on the Information Technology Strategic Plan for the county; the county brought many services to the citizens that before, they had to go to county hall or government centers to get; the county’s website was turned into an electronic doorway to get to the county so people could pay taxes online, and file different work requests online; when he left Miami, the county was working on a way to allow permitting online; and the intent was to take every government service possible and put it so the citizens could do it when they wanted to do it. He stated another action to bring services to the citizens was a call center with working groups across the county, which has been relatively effective; duplication in the process was eliminated; but the processes have to be clarified in order to be automated. He stated another initiative the county started was to implement asset management in the county; there are companies that build the software that allows the tracking of every asset, from tires to buildings and warranties; and it was found that people could not track the lifetime of bridges and know when repairs were made and what the condition might be based on projected life spans.

Commissioner Bolin stated Mr. Witt knows the Board is in the midst of a budget situation and reduction in the economy of Brevard County, which causes an uneasiness among the employees about their future; and inquired how Mr. Witt feels he will be able to unite them and move forward as a strong unit under these situations.

Mr. Witt advised he has had quite a bit of experience with people; the military is a different structure, but there are some similarities; the County Manager is the overall people manager in government; and he would start off by getting around to every department, meeting the employees in the place they work and sit in on directors’ staff meetings, then he would get everyone together and have an open meeting; and teamwork and dependencies need to be built with everyone pulling in the same direction.

Commissioner Anderson inquired what Mr. Witt considers core government services. Mr. Witt stated Public Safety is a core service; sometimes they need to be considered as part of the whole rather than the independent activities; water is key to survival; and solid waste, public utilities, road maintenance, libraries, and parks are all things that are valuable; but it is important to break out the core services with all of their fine detail and spent some time stacking those details in priority order.

Commissioner Fisher inquired when trying to define the character of the community, how does Mr. Witt see it five or ten years from now as County Manager. Mr. Witt stated he does not know the County today; and he cannot visualize it tomorrow, much less five years from now. He stated as County Manager he would spend some time assessing and getting to know things well; during the tour he took yesterday he was struck by the areas that are undeveloped; he is sure it has to do with many geological factors, but it really seems the County is a set of communities that are pretty much independent and the County’s infrastructure work reaches out to them across the undeveloped spans of land; and as a County government, there is likely a lot of diversity between the areas.

Commissioner Infantini stated there seems to be low morale amongst employees, in part because they may have thought the budget would go in a different direction; and inquired what Mr. Witt could do to improve the morale, and is it the responsibility of the County Manager to improve the morale. Mr. Witt replied it is the County Manager’s direct responsibility; everyone has to contribute to the plan; but it is the County Manager’s job directly to do all he can to improve morale. He stated the harder one works, the harder one plays; and he does not know whether it would be appropriate or not, but anything from volleyball games to trying to get the wives together to bring out food and sandwiches, and we would have a big outdoor day in which employees would play softball and drink beer. He stated the main thing is to get everybody together and talk to them about what is going on and the importance of their work. He stated a County Manager tries to boost them up and pat them on the back and share a joke with them, but also let them know what is going on and why some of the priorities are what they are, and why some of the problems are what they are, so that the employees know they are all part of one team. He stated some people wonder about a military professional’s demeanor and way of working; there is a predisposition that every soldier has to bark orders; but he does not think that is true at all; military discipline is to build and train teams for what has to be done and to rely on the professionals in the teams to do the different business processes the right way, such as logistics and operations; and the art is to organize the objectives so everyone has a clear purpose, and those things need to be tracked to a conclusion.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – AMY MCEWAN

Amy McEwan advised she is the Assistant County Administrator for Lake County, Illinois; it is a county north of Chicago of approximately 713,000 people; she works with a county board of 23; and their main objections are similar to the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, which is to balance the budget and to provide services to the citizens of Lake County. She stated her previous positions include Assistant Manager of Delta, which is a town in Michigan on the west side of Lansing; in both previous positions she worked in economic development with utilities, the judicial area, bonding projects, finances, budget, and a wide variety of public services; and before that, she worked for both the City of Battle Creek and Eaton County as a Planner in both locations; she started out in urban and regional planning; she received her Masters in Public Administration; and for that last 10 years has been working in local government with elected Boards in that capacity.

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Ms. McEwan stated she has 23 elected officials she has to balance; and inquired how Ms. McEwan feels she is going to move forward having five Commissioners and unifying everyone with one vision and also balancing that with the job of County Manager. Ms. McEwan advised it begins with a strategic plan or something of that variety, that helps to bring the Board together and focus on what is most important for the community; the Board will come together with a list of items that are most important to it; and then staff can go back with that in mind and come up with actions and work plans to see what is needed in order to move forward. She stated if the Board’s main objective is water or economic development, or environmental conservation, staff needs to know what to do to support those objectives; work plans are developed and brought back to the Board so it is aware of what staff will be working on for the next year or two; and it is commonly asking the question over and over, is it a core responsibility, or is it one of the strategic priorities, or is it something that another agency or service can provide, other than the County.

Commissioner Anderson stated he is interested in Ms. McEwan’s background in economic development and the unique situation facing Brevard County with the future of economic development and the Space Center; and inquired how Ms. McEwan would use her skill sets in order to help Brevard County improve its economic development situation. Ms. McEwan replied one of the most important features of economic development is relationships; part of it is getting out there and meeting the business community; there are portions of economic development that go hand-in-hand with the elected officials, community members, and business owners to start looking at where there are opportunities; and if there is going to be a loss opportunity in the space industry, what are some other industries that require the same skill sets in Brevard County. She noted there was a similar situation when she worked in Delta Township; the Township worked with the entire region to save the automotive plants and suppliers; there were 4,500 jobs due to be lost; it brought together an entire region from multiple backgrounds to figure out what to do to save the industry; and she would suspect similar actions are already taking place in Brevard County. She stated small business owners have to be considered, as well as the skill sets and what other opportunities are available in other industries that can be brought in from other locations or expansions of existing industries that can benefit from the resources that are already in Brevard County.

Commissioner Fisher inquired if Ms. McEwan has any examples of any partnerships that she was able to help put together with the private sector. Ms. McEwan stated the project with General Motors is an example; the automotive companies were at the table along with the suppliers and governmental bodies; there was an inter-governmental agreement that actually is a sharing of tax base between multiple jurisdictions that allowed the Township to give them an incentive it would not have been able to give them otherwise; and it also required them to make investments in certain infrastructure items, so they were on the hook for certain job retention, wage rates and other things with automotive suppliers. She stated General Motors had a three million square-foot facility that had to be constructed in 14 months; General Motors was concerned that it could not be accomplished with the level of inspections that had to be done; and the Township pooled inspectors from the entire region and committed to doing inspections around the clock if necessary, to accomplish completing the facility. She stated General Motors had major business interests in mind that they had to meet to meet their fiduciary responsibilities; at the same time, the Township brought them a proposal for some land that they owned on an older plant and told them the Township developed a plan and would like to make it available to auto suppliers; those suppliers had to choose to locate there, but they gave the Township an audience to pitch the plan to; and in addition to saving the automotive jobs, the Township was also able to put together a proposal that brought an additional 1,300 supplier jobs to the region. She stated it is a complex project; but that is an example of something she worked on; and there were other diversifying projects that went along with that.

Commissioner Fisher stated yesterday, in the individual interview, Ms. McEwan mentioned to him that she noticed there is an issue with morale among employees; and inquired how she would improve morale. Ms. McEwan replied employees are committed to the jobs they do; the majority of public servants have the best of intentions and want to serve the citizens; and it is hard for them to give up services and provide less services than they are used to providing. She stated one piece of it is appreciation; another piece is inclusion in the process; another way is for the employees to feel confident in the direction the County is going; and sometimes it is getting clear direction from the Board and then being able to communicate it more effectively down through the employee ranks so they hear what it is the Board is trying to do. She stated one thing that has been done in Lake County is to stay in constant communication; there have been open forums for employees to talk about it and have their questions answered; and creating the open forums has seemed to help.

Commissioner Infantini stated recently, the Board has identified a couple of situations where staff at a lower level were advised to not interact with the County Commissioners; inquired how Ms. McEwan feels about all levels of staff being able to interact with the County Commissioners, whether it be by phone or email, or stopping by the offices; and inquired how Ms. McEwan feels about all levels of management and staff being able to work with the County Commissioners discussing issues that may be going on within the departments. Ms. McEwan replied it is about openness; employees are members of the community and are also the Board’s constituents, and they would have the same opportunity to speak to a Commissioner as any citizen would; but it is also important that the employees’ directors or supervisors understand the information that is being purveyed; and the director or County Manager would have an opportunity, if necessary, to provide any other insight they might know of because they may see a connection with another department that the employee is not aware of. She stated in Lake County there is a trust and verify situation; the employees are all encouraged to speak to Board members; the employees are also requested to let their directors or supervisors know they had a conversation about a certain problem with a Commissioner; and that has worked out well in Lake County.

Chairman Nelson stated the County Charter clearly defines responsibilities of the County Commissioners and it clearly defines the responsibility of the County Manager; the Charter also clearly establishes the separation between the two; and inquired what Ms. McEwans’ reaction would be if one of the Commissioners gave her a direction that was inconsistent with those separations. Ms. McEwan replied stated she would again say openness; a County Manager has to be confident that he or she is getting direction from the entire Board rather than from one individual because each Commissioner represents different constituencies and have slightly different views of how things impact their area as well as how they impact the County as a whole; and her job would be to work for the five of the Commissioners and to move forward the Board’s strategic plan and goals based on that which is given to her. She stated she would approach the other Commissioners with what one Commissioner directed to her and ask how the other would wish to proceed.

Commissioner Bolin stated Ms. McEwan understands the role she would have as County Manager dealing with the Board of County Commissioners and also her role as being the CEO of the County government; and inquired how Ms. McEwan sees her role as County Manager in the community, if selected. Ms. McEwan stated she cannot be everything to everyone; and she does have small children; but what she has done in her community is pick out a couple of things she wishes to participate in, especially on the County level. She advised in Lake County there are 52 municipalities, so she cannot go to every Chamber event; but what she can do is pick out a few things to be involved in and make sure she learns and gets to know people; and every couple of years she can change those around. She stated she has never found a shortage of activities to participate in; there are always wonderful causes, whether it be for the arts or music, or sports related; and she has usually been able to find a conjunction between the things her kids do, as well as others that are charitable or otherwise.

Commissioner Bolin she was looking more for what Ms. McEwan feels the role of the community is as the third partner for communications. Ms. McEwan replied some things are challenging because citizens are very busy with various activities; it is communicating the message of what County government does and what changes are coming their way and how it will impact them; it is key to create some partnerships so that there are other ambassadors that are taking the Board’s message out to the community; the Board has its slated press releases and messages and official statements, but it also needs some folks on the street talking to citizens in small groups and helping folks understand how things are going to change. She noted some of those opportunities are through community forums that are very formal and others that are informal, where people involved in government are asked to participate in educating the public in a more informal way.

Commissioner Anderson stated during the one-on-one interview, he and Ms. McEwan discussed transportation planning and funding; and inquired if Ms. McEwan could explain her background in transportation planning funding, and accomplishments she has had in her career. Ms. McEwan responded in Michigan, there were a lot of opportunities to tie transportation projects because of the funding of the State with economic development projects; those were successful items; and job creation could be tied to dollars for roads. She noted in Illinois, there has been success in bringing together the 52 municipalities and putting together a consensus list of projects; there are state, county, and municipal road projects that were put in priority order; and when there are decisions such as stimulus dollars or other programs, staff knows exactly which roads are being applied for, the phases of the roads, and who the responsible agency is. She advised Illinois has struggled for a capital bill; thankfully, a capital bill just passed, so there will be some new funding for roads; Lake County also passed a quarter-cent sales tax because transportation had been declining as far as what was able to be supplied; and there was significant increases in population without the opportunity to increase the capacity of the roads. She stated Lake County put together a transportation plan that included grading the roads to determine the condition of the roads and how many people travel the roads; criteria was set up to give a certain number of points, or hierarchy, to different roads; Lake County took the politics out of which road goes first, second, or third, and put in a point system; and it was worked wonderfully, as it is a scientific issue.

Commissioner Fisher stated Brevard County has several projects in the community that it does not have the ability to fund; some projects have specific funding for it, such as a park that had a referendum; and inquired what is Ms. McEwan’s philosophy on building things new when there is no ability to maintain the things that are already in place. Ms. McEwan stated that is a tricky question, but part of it comes from Brevard County’s funding structure; if taking one source, such as transportation, that is where there may be smaller amounts of money that would allow a phase I or phase II environmental and preparation of future years of construction; and then there are other portions of funds that require significant dollars to build a very large project that kind of lay in waiting while applying for funds, or waiting to receive funds. She stated it comes back to the strategic plan; in Lake County, roads are one of the highest priorities; and Lake County looks for funds wherever possible to build roads because of the challenges in the County; Brevard County needs to come up with its strategies and priorities, and then fund them accordingly; and staff needs that direction from the Board on what is a priority.

Commissioner Infantini inquired if Ms. McEwan was given the direction that she was to live within the budget constraints and that the Board was not going to be increasing the budget going forward, would she recommend using reserves to finance the County’s activities going forward for the upcoming year, or would she recommend just using the revenue available. Ms. McEwan responded it depends on if it is one-time money, or recurring money; when a County starts using reserves, which is a source of one-time funding, to fund its operations it is going to be in a larger hole next year than the current year; when a County has to come back year after year and cut, it gets to be exhausting and challenging for employees; and where the Board is looking at funding operations, it needs to look for ongoing revenues. She stated certain types of reserves can be used to pay a one-time expense at certain times; but in most cases, it would be her recommendation not to use reserves or one-time money for ongoing operational costs.

Ms. McEwan stated she has enjoyed her work in local government; she believes being a County Administrator is about partnering with the Board of County Commissioners to build a strong community and to build with the citizens of Brevard County and what types of services they would like to see as well as what they want to spend their limited tax dollars on; and she also looks at setting priorities so there can be clear communication with the citizens. She stated she has worked to present information openly to the public and with the elected officials that she has worked with; the same is true with the employees; all of the employees are smart and talented people; and County Officials need to be honest with the employees about the budget constraints and have them help to come up with a solution. She stated it is a difficult financial time; it is not the first one the nation has faced; but the country will come out on the other side of it; and success will be determined by how well everyone works together and manages the limited resources there are to provide the services that have been set as priorities.

The Board recessed at 2:33 p.m. and reconvened at 2:48 p.m.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – HOWARD TIPTON

Howard Tipton stated he is involved in his community in his property owners association, YMCA, and through coaching, and the Indian Guide and Indian Princess Program, as well as a Stephen Minister at his church; and as a community volunteer, he has headed up the United Way’s campaign for government and education for the last couple of years. He stated he has had a chance to be the Chair and Interim Director for the Mental Health Association of Central Florida; he has been on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Health and Public Affairs at the University of Central Florida, as well as on the Advisory Board for the School of Public Administration, also at the University of Central Florida. He stated in terms of his professional associations, he has been very involved with the American Society for Public Administration, as well as the International City/County Manager’s Association, as a credentialed manager, which is the highest certification. He stated in terms of work, he has spent seven years in the County Administrator’s Office in Orange County, with five of those years as a Deputy County Administrator; during that time he had the chance to oversee all operations of the County; and so he is very familiar with what counties do. He noted for the last 11 years he has had the chance to head up the Orange County Clerk of the Courts Office and has built an outstanding team; and he is proud of the recognition his office received last year in the Governor’s Sterling Award for Performance Excellence, which is also an award that was won by the Brevard County School Board, recognizing performance excellence. He advised he has been a Florida resident for the past 28 years; he has been in Orlando for the past 24 years; has been married to his wife, Marion, for the past 24 years; and he has two children who are 19 and 17 years old.

Commissioner Anderson stated under these tough budget times, the frontline employees who interact with the citizens have experienced layoffs, hiring freezes, and furloughs, and as a result it has affected morale of the workforce; and inquired how Mr. Tipton plans to address that situation. Mr. Tipton replied there are a couple of things that he would do; the culture is changing; the new blood on the Commission is a new direction for the organization; the organization needs to clearly understand that direction; and he thinks currently, there is a little bit of a struggle with that. He stated one thing that needs to be done to boost morale is make sure everyone understands the direction of the organization, which is the vision, the values, and the mission; a commitment needs to be made; and the best thing that can be done for morale is allow people to serve the citizens in a way that results in great customer service. He stated there are a lot of opportunities available for self-service, and those need to be explored; but from his experience, the best way to boost moral is to make sure employees understand direction and the culture of the organization and that they have a chance to be a part of it and commit to it.

Commissioner Fisher stated Mr. Tipton has the experience with the Clerk of Courts of Orange County, so he is sure they have some budget constraints going on right now; and inquired if Mr. Tipton could give some examples of the things he has done in his office to help with the budget situation. Mr. Tipton advised as of July 1^st he lost one-quarter of his funding and a sixth of his staff; the Clerk’s Office lost 107 positions, 54 of which were filled and those employees walked out the door on June 30^th; and the office addressed that through a voluntary separation program. He stated he wanted to make sure the employees who had an opportunity to explore something else were given that opportunity; and in doing so, the self-selection process had a tremendous impact on morale. He stated the Clerk’s Office had to shut down some operations; an operation had to be closed at the jail; hours were reduced in another community facility; and the office is in the process of changing some of the expectations and performance measures based on that. He noted the call center receives 1.3 million calls a year, and a third of them were just lost; and the office has to figure out how to work around that; but at all points, the Clerks Office is involving the employees in those discussions and trying to find the best way to provide the services as possible. He noted there is a prioritization process that takes place which is a point factor system; it is not overly complicated, but it does help to take a look at the key services; he stated the Clerk’s Office goes out and talks to customers; there are three customer segment groups that include the judges, one of the attorneys, and the public; and the office tries to reach each one of those to make sure there is an understanding of what the needs are.

Commissioner Infantini stated apparently Mr. Tipton has excellent prioritization skills if he has had to pare down his workforce by one-sixth. She inquired if Mr. Tipton was told that he had to hold the budget and that the Board is not going to raise taxes, would he seek to use reserves to get through the upcoming budget year, or would he seek to cut spending rather than use the reserves, and why. Mr. Tipton responded the normal baseline for the FGOA is five percent in terms of reserves; the normal reserve that is desired is seven percent; and the State of Florida caps reserves at 10 percent. He stated in terms of using reserves, as the Board knows, they are used periodically; a lot of it is cash brought forward at the end of the year; there may be some short-term reserves that may be utilized, but it is usually paid back. He noted he is not a big fan of using reserves; he believes the County is in a time that is not a short-term downturn; it may last three to five years or longer; and the spending has to get down. He stated he is someone who likes to deal with things all at once, to the extent that it can be planned for; and to answer Commissioner Infantini’s question, he is not a fan of using reserves, as he believes they are there for emergencies, which is where they should be. He stated with Brevard being a coastal County, things do come up, and that is something to hold the reserves for.

Commissioner Bolin stated it sounds like Mr. Tipton has had experience with cutting and working with employees on how to handle that side; as County Manager, he will also be dealing with the Commissioners; and inquired if Mr. Tipton has had experience in how to balance five different individuals with five different personalities. Mr. Tipton responded in Orange County there are seven elected officials to balance; he thinks the key for the five Commissioners is to come together on things that can be agreed on to help create a vision that the organization can follow; it may not be perfect, and it may not be complete, but there are some things that each of the Commissioners can agree on; and if they can do that, they can build on those common thoughts, feelings or priorities. He stated there has to be some work in the beginning that takes gives the Board an opportunity to express to the new County Manager and to the community what the vision is for Brevard County. He stated Brevard County’s future is bright; the possibilities are endless; focus needs to be on the positive so they can build a bridge to that future; and the community, along with the organization, is looking to the Board for that guidance. He stated it is one of the first things that need to be done; but it is not easy, and the Commissioners have five distinct personalities with differing priorities, but different in what they believe is best for Brevard County; and the Board needs to focus on the possibilities.

Chairman Nelson stated the County Charter clearly defines responsibilities of the County Commissioners and it clearly defines the responsibility of the County Manager; the Charter also clearly establishes the separation between the two; and inquired what Mr. Tipton’s reaction would be if one of the Commissioners gave him a direction that was inconsistent with those separations. Mr. Tipton replied he believes strongly that that the Charter is the guideline that they all must follow; if he was approached and thought there was something out of line or inappropriate, it would be his desire to sit down with whoever that was to make sure he understood the request, as sometimes things can be miscommunicated; he understands he is responsible for the staff in the organization; he takes that responsibility very seriously; and he holds the people who work for him accountable to the tasks that he has assigned them. He stated it becomes very difficult if employees are getting assignments from all quarters; he would hope, as the relationship began, that there could be an understanding of the Charter between the Board and the County Manager; and he understands there are slight shades of grey and things that need to be done; but in terms of directing staff and taking things farther than that, he would like to continue to have conversations until an understanding is reached.

Commissioner Anderson stated all of the Commissioners, at some level, represent municipalities within their Districts; he represents five municipalities in his District; and inquired how Mr. Tipton plans to reach out to those municipalities so that the entire County is working towards the same goal to provide services to the citizens. Mr. Tipton advised in Orange County there are 13 municipalities; he has had a chance to talk to two City Managers in Brevard County; and he believes his understanding of city issues positions him well to be successful in that regard. He stated he not only has his own personal history in working with the City of Orlando; Orange County worked with the City of Orlando on a number of issues from reclaimed water to trying to bring in the SEC Football Championship; but he understands municipal needs; and he understands there are opportunities present for the County and the Cities to do a better job in coordination of services. He stated he is fully ready and capable to have those discussions; and he believes the cities are too, as everyone is going to rough times and looking for new ways of doing things.

Commissioner Fisher inquired if Mr. Tipton had any experience in economic development, or have an opinion on economic development. Mr. Tipton replied he does have experience in economic development; for part of his time, he was over the Orange County Convention Center, which is the second largest facility of its kind in the country; he made presentations to the Homebuilders Show, which was able to bring in 165,000 participants; the economic impact of shows at the convention center are in the hundreds of millions of dollars; and in Orange County, the Economic Development Commission was used extensively. He stated he is not as familiar with the workings of the Economic Development Commission on the Space Coast; but he has read the strategic plan and he thinks the five targeted industries are in step with the workforce already in Brevard County; and he can find no fault with the EDC’s plans, but it takes a tremendous amount of effort to bring in a new business; and an equal amount of effort needs to be made for all businesses in Brevard County. He stated in terms of the Space Program, it is the gorilla in the room; he prays the Federal Government has enough sense to continue with the programs they have been looking at; and it is critical that the County’s needs are heard.

Commissioner Infantini inquired how Mr. Tipton feels about placing existing County functions out to Request for Proposal to find out whether or not an outside agency could fulfill that requirement at a lower cost than the County is currently providing it. Mr. Tipton stated he has no problem in putting functions of the County out to bid; but cost is not the only factor involved; and the County has to make sure that as it looks at the services provided, the quality of services and level of services, and the capacity of a particular company, to perhaps provide some of the backup services that County employees often do in their secondary roles during hurricanes or fires, it needs to understand the full picture before doing that. He stated in terms of wanting to get the best service for the best price, the community at large is demanding that today.

Commissioner Bolin inquired if Mr. Tipton was selected, what would his first steps be once he put his pencil down on a desk. Mr. Tipton stated the first thing he would have to do is get to know the Board better; and he plans on spending time in meetings and in the Commissioners’ Districts making sure he understands the issues. He stated he has talked about the need for the Board to come together; and he thinks the County Manager plays an important role in that; but beyond that, he thinks the County Manager and the Board need to be visible both with the employees and in the community. He stated in his previous role in Orange County government he did Work Days in which he did things such as cook with inmates to serve food at the jail; he has dug canals, and sprayed aquatic weeds; but the best fun he had was driving a compactor at the landfill because he could not hurt anything; and it is great to get out and understand the work environments that so many of the citizens are in. He stated in terms of the community, one thing that he thinks the organization can benefit from is a greater exchange of information and ideas with the community; and one of his first steps would be to go out and spend as much time as possible meeting in groups, whether it’s Kiwanis, or Lions Club, but try to get a sense of information sharing.

Chairman Nelson stated part of the difficulty the County is having with morale is that staff is not clear on what their jobs are; this is the third year of reductions; and it has become a moving target. He inquired what Mr. Tipton would do to try to clarify that so the staff becomes more aware of what is being asked of them. Mr. Tipton stated he gets a sense that as the organization has gone through changes over the last couple of years, moral is low; the best experience he has is the use of a balance score card, which takes a strategic perspective that the Board provides and breaks it down into actionable items, and puts measures to it; and everyone who is a part of that understands their role. He stated the balance score card clarifies and eliminates the waste, and he has seen it to be the most effective tool he has ever used in all of his years; it is a great communication tool; and people will understand the focus of that department. He noted the important part of any balance score card is to make sure the right things are being measured; there can be the overall strategic perspectives, but if the right things are not being measured, they are going to be in a different place; and the beauty of the score card is that it is self-correcting because as there are monthly reviews, the information is looked at, and if staff is not going in the direction of achieving the outcomes that should have been achieved, those adjustments can begin immediately, instead of waiting mid-year. He stated the balance score care also provides the tool for sharing it with the public, which is the transparency piece to show what staff said it would do with the resources.

Commissioner Fisher stated he would like Mr. Tipton to describe how he would like the Board to be towards him. Mr. Tipton advised he would like to see trust; stated he and the Board will move forward if there is trust; there may be different ideas on how to get there, but the common cause is to improve Brevard County; and if there is no trust, then the County is not going to move very fast. He stated for him, integrity is everything; the Board’s word to him is as much as a written document; and the Board can take that from him as well.

Mr. Tipton expressed appreciation to the Board for consideration of the position of County Manager; he has no doubt in his experience and in his background he has the abilities to be successful in the position; he does not minimize the challenges; he is familiar with the region; and he knows the laws in Florida. He stated lastly, there are some things the County has to deal with; but as he mentioned before, the future for Brevard County is very bright and the possibilities are endless; and if given the chance to be a part of that, it would be a great honor.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – JEFF HUTCHINSON

Jeff Hutchinson stated he is originally from northern Michigan; but has lived in Ormond Beach for the past few years, up until seven months ago when he relocated to Elkhart, Indiana, which is an interesting area because of what they are going through with unemployment and business structures; and he would love to get back in the area of Brevard County. He stated his personality type is more of a leadership role; he has excellent skills in management and organization; he has a background in chemistry, which leads him into technologies; and he is also an innovator, creating different opportunities within the business organizations he is familiar with; and he is a very open people person, which are skills he picked up in team building exercises.

Commissioner Fisher inquired what skill sets Mr. Hutchinson has that he can bring to government that can change it fairly quickly. Mr. Hutchinson stated he has been in the private sector for 25 years; he had a wonderful opportunity growing through the industries from floor levels up through technologies and management with different departments and different divisions; he has been General Manager for a variety of corporations; and he has also spent time overseas running some European operations. He stated for the last eight years he has been global from a sales analysis and from business opportunities; he believes he has a tremendous amount of skills he can bring over from the private sector into the public sector into the government area; and he is looking at new challenges and new opportunities; and as he has grown throughout businesses in the industry, he finds he is leaning more and more towards what can be done to influence the community areas. He stated what he has done in the past with multiple companies is change, turning non-performing operations into performing operations; he comes in and does a gap analysis with the budgets, looks at the revenues and profitability in the organization; and he will take a white piece of paper and look at the systems involved and change it. He stated he depends on a lot of help from the staff that reports to him in identifying the changes and implementing them; and it flourishes a lot better because he is empowering individuals.

Commissioner Infantini stated one of her reasons for wanting new County leadership is culture; she believes the County needs a huge culture change; and that is why she is primarily looking outside the government sector. She inquired if Mr. Hutchinson is going to be changing the County’s culture, what does he think would be the best way to approach it; and inquired what are some of the ideas he may have for helping the County change and filter down a culture change so that the new message can be delivered to every level of staff. Mr. Hutchinson stated it is key to deliver it to every level of staff; it needs to start with a clear definition of vision or goals, which starts with the Board; and if he were County Manager, he would like to evaluate that vision with each Commissioner as he works with staff to evaluate the needs of particular areas.

Commissioner Bolin stated with Mr. Hutchinson’s experience, he has been working a lot with employees; and inquired if he has been in a situation where he has had more than one boss. Mr. Hutchinson replied he reports to a couple of different bosses; he has worked with more than one board of directors in a joint venture of different businesses; and to him, the people that work for him are his bosses as well.

Commissioner Anderson stated when going from the private sector to a government sector, it is a big transition because things move slower on a government level than can be accomplished on a private sector level; he does not want to get into a situation where anyone is being set up for failure, as the Board wants whomever gets the job to succeed; and inquired how Mr. Hutchinson would cope with those issues transitioning from private to government.

Mr. Hutchinson advised even in the business area, one has to establish a pace; the lines of communications must be opened; and that direction needs to be supported with evidence, understanding there is bureaucracy that has to be established and the pace may be slow. He stated he thinks he may be able to push the pace along a little better in that each area would need to see certain documentations, certain data, and certain evidences; and if that could be lined up simultaneously, it could be channeled a little bit faster.

Commissioner Fisher stated there are State agencies and municipalities; it is going to take some relationship building to understand Mr. Hutchinson’s role with them; and inquired how he would build that relationship. Mr. Hutchinson advised he would like to have meetings with them, to clearly open up a communication link to understand where they are and where they foresee the needs to be and have some back and forth dialogue; and he has done that through union negotiations. He stated for him, it is a learning curve because he needs to understand the processes within the government; but he is quick to adapt.

Commissioner Infantini inquired if the Board gave Mr. Hutchinson direction that it does not plan to increase taxes and that the millage would remain the same, would he recommend the Board use its reserves to help finance operating activities, or would he recommend the Board reduce spending. Mr. Hutchinson stated first he would like to evaluate all aspects within the budget and the spending to see what the needs are; he would like to get a good understanding of the needs; he would like to see how much is being spent on certain projects; and before he would ask the Board to raise taxes or pull reserves, it would have to be analyzed to see if there are any other steps the Board could take before taking that approach. He stated he would like to ensure that the money being spent is being spent wisely and all opportunities are uncovered for reducing spending while keeping the project up to speed. He noted he does not like pulling from reserves; he would look more at the cash flow; and the reserves may be for another future project that may be worthwhile.

Commissioner Bolin stated having a business background is good because to keep a business going, the budget has to be balanced; and inquired how Mr. Hutchinson feels about the different issues in government, as there are many different departments. Mr. Hutchinson stated he would look at the core; he would want to understand public safety as well as the other departments to understand where each of the projects are; he is quick to pick up and look at where some of the spending is going; and hopefully spending would not need to reduce spending on some of the projects.

Commissioner Anderson stated in the one-on-one interview, he and Mr. Hutchinson discussed different business processes; and inquired if Mr. Hutchinson believes he can implement some of those processes in government. Mr. Hutchinson replied he believes he can implement a hybrid version in the government sector; some of it is not necessary and taxing on the resources; but there are certain aspects that do work for business, and he does not see why those cannot work for government; and it focuses the attention on the objectives.

Chairman Nelson stated morale seems to be a common theme right now within County government; and inquired what Mr. Hutchinson would do to try to improve that. Mr. Hutchinson advised he has found that the first thing that helps with morale is to listen; the County is going through tough times and it is not easy; employees need to be involved and need to be engaged because the economy will turn around; and if employees are engaged with the Board, helping to drive some of the actions, it is rewarding to them.

Commissioner Fisher inquired when Mr. Hutchinson feels it appropriate to raise taxes. Mr. Hutchinson replied the Board needs to continue to look at the budget and lean it out as much as possible and identify those projects that may be consolidated, if not eliminated; and stated the community also determines if projects are needed. He stated in some instances, business can be created to bring in more taxes; generating revenue has to always be looked at outside of taxes; the industries are changing right now; and there may be an avenue to pick up more taxes.

Mr. Hutchinson stated he appreciates the opportunity to speak to the Board; he and his family are excited about the opportunity; the County Manager position will get him involved in the communities, which is what he wants to be involved in; and he sees a lot of good talent with in the staff of Brevard County. He stated he would enjoy having the opportunity to work with each Commissioner, as well as with the staff.

FULL COMMISSION INTERVIEWS, RE: INTERVIEW APPLICANTS – PAUL WOODBURY

Paul Woodbury stated he currently resides in Wesley Chapel, North Carolina; he works for a company called Tyco International; he is happily married with a daughter and son-in-law that live in Brevard County; and there is not much else to say, as his work experience speaks for itself.

Commissioner Infantini stated Mr. Woodbury’s resume is impressive; and inquired how Mr. Woodbury approaches his leadership role. Mr. Woodbury stated he does not see a difference between leadership in the public and private sector; leadership is about communicating a vision with people and bringing people together over something; and a good example is the current budget issues that are causing some concerns within the departments. He stated employees do not feel they can provide the services they have in the past; leadership means bringing those employees together over what is available today in regards to the budget; and leadership sometimes means getting down into the organization and getting feedback from people who have to provide the services at the front line.

Commissioner Bolin stated if Mr. Woodbury is selected as the County Manager, he will be dealing with a different scenario, as he would be in charge of all of the operations for the County, and making sure services are provided; but he will also have to deal with the Board; and inquired if Mr. Woodbury has directly dealt with a Board of Directors in his previous positions. Mr. Woodbury stated no, not in the government structure; he has dealt with multiple layers of supervision; the key for him is understanding the will of the Commission because it is obvious there are a lot of different opinions about how certain things should be; and determining the mandate of the Board is the real challenge.

Commissioner Anderson stated he does not want to put anyone in a position where they feel like they cannot succeed; he wants whoever is selected as County Manager to stay a considerable amount of time; and inquired how Mr. Woodbury will make the transition between the private sector and the government sector. Mr. Woodbury advised he understands there is a bureaucracy, but there is a process to everything.

Commissioner Fisher inquired how Mr. Woodbury sees his skill set fitting into the government sector from the private sector. Mr. Woodbury replied it became obvious to him very quickly that the County Manager position is really an Operations Management position in terms of cost control and spending, along with morale, employee safety and quality of service. He stated it is a different environment, and in some ways he welcomes the change; after 30 years with the same company he is ready to move on; and the public sector represents a whole new set of challenges.

Commissioner Infantini stated in the one-on-one interview, Mr. Woodbury has some ideas on employee morale and moving forward; and inquired if he would share those with the Board. Mr. Woodbury advised it is obvious staff is in a state of shock; the Board needs to confront reality; and the Board needs to communicate everything that is relevant to the staff about the current situation. He stated staff needs to be part of the process and to feel they are part of running the organization and not just being led around by it.

Commissioner Bolin inquired if she came into Mr. Woodbury’s office and said she did not like the color of the room and that she would want it to be painted blue, how would he handle a situation like that. Mr. Woodbury replied he would ask the other Commissioners how they felt about a blue room.

Commissioner Anderson stated Tyco International uses a lot of good business practices to be as successful as it is; and inquired how Mr. Woodbury would implement some of those practices into the government sector. Mr. Woodbury advised some of those processes and practices would be fairly lengthy in implementation; one mandate in his current position is that he will take out five percent of the cost each year; and that much cannot be taken out without having a systemic model to work from; and there cannot be an employee suggestion program and hope people put in suggestions that are going to take out tons of cash. He stated it is a lengthy process, but over time it can pay for itself ten times over.

Commissioner Fisher stated if the Board takes Mr. Woodbury’s concept to government spending and takes out five percent each year, then after 20 years, everything is taken out; and inquired when Mr. Woodbury thinks it is appropriate to talk to the Board about raising taxes. Mr. Woodbury replied his job would be to present options to the Board; raising the millage rate is the Board’s decision; and his job would be to provide options and tell the Board what the situation would be under certain circumstances.

Chairman Nelson stated governmental accounting and budgeting is unlike anything known to business because it is legislated that way, and the Board has to follow practices that would not otherwise be used; and inquired what differences Mr. Woodbury sees between business and government, and what are the constraints to that. Mr. Woodbury replied a business provides shareholder value and tries to return money back to the shareholders; government tries to provide the best value to the public with the money available; and if more service can be put into that, then that may be what is done.

Commissioner Infantini stated during the one-on-one interview, Mr. Woodbury mentioned tone at the top; and inquired what tone at the top means to Mr. Woodbury, because she knows what it means to her, but she does not know what it means to him. Mr. Woodbury replied over time, and organization starts to reflect the personality of the management at the top level, in that is the senior staff positive or negative, and do they believe they can achieve the goals with the constraints in front of them, or does senior staff believe it cannot be done; and if senior staff believes there is not enough money, everyone throughout the organization is going to be negative. He stated from a morale standpoint, toning at the top is very important in setting how the Board wants everyone to feel in the organization.

Chairman Nelson stated part of the morale issue is that the Board has clearly delineated what its expectations are; it has clearly been delineated how much money there is going to be; but it has not been translated to service; part of the confusion is staff is not sure what they are supposed to do with the money they have; and inquired how Mr. Woodbury would address that. Mr. Woodbury advised he cannot answer today what services should be there and what should not, other than he knows one of the Boards priorities is public safety and infrastructure; but services would need to be prioritized; and if there is a limited amount of dollars, then the Board starts to peel off the things on the bottom of the priority list.

Commissioner Anderson stated a lot of sub-contracting is done in the private sector; there is a thought that maybe there would be some cost efficiencies based on privatizing or sending out RFP’s for certain government functions; and inquired what Mr. Woodbury thinks about that. Mr. Woodbury replied everything should be rationalized on a regular basis to see if it makes sense for the County to continue to do something, or if someone else should be doing it for the County; and every decision needs to be made on the facts of that particular case. He stated if he has an operation that makes sense to be outsourced, and it agreed it would save money, then that decision is based on its own merits; but everything the County does should be rationalized on a regular basis.

Commissioner Fisher stated there are State and federal agencies, as well as municipalities; and inquired how Mr. Woodbury would build a relationship with all the different partners. Mr. Woodbury responded he is going to reach out to them, but he cannot tell yet how he is going to build relationships; he knows his relationships to the other municipalities is crucial to public confidence; and he would like to meet regularly with the municipalities to talk about their priorities are and how it meshes with what the County is doing.

Mr. Woodbury stated it is his job to convince the Board that although he does not have government administration experience, he does have the experience to be able to do the job of County Manager; it is an operations management role; and the Board may want to look at it as an operations management role in terms of where it looks for resources in the future. He stated what he thinks is needed in the County Manager position is someone who can create effective performance management matrix, not only from service delivery, but in efficiency; and the Board needs to choose someone who has the ability to confront reality. He stated lastly, the Board needs someone with the presence, authority, and willpower to be able to deal with issues and hold people accountable because a lot of people are good at gathering data, but not acting on it; and what the Board needs is a mixture of proven leadership, and he thinks he is that person.

DISCUSSION AND BOARD DIRECTION, RE: BRIEF RECAP AND NEXT STEPS

Colin Baenziger, Baenziger and Associates, stated the Board has heard from six candidates, and it will probably want to spend some time thinking about its decision; the Board is scheduled to vote on Tuesday; and if the Board has any questions, he will be available over the weekend and on Monday. He stated what he would like to do in terms of choosing a County Manager is a similar process to what was done to choose the finalists; he would like to give the Board two votes; at this point, the Board is trying to find the person who is the best fit with all of the Commissioners; and he would like to know who would be the top two choices. He stated normally he starts with a straw poll because chances are there are two or three candidates that the Board may not want to consider seriously; but there may be two or three candidates that the Board does want to consider seriously; and the straw poll gets the discussion going. He stated the Board can go to a second ballot if it would like, or it can have some discussion; but will use the different experience he has had with different groups in terms of trying to find a way to reach a consensus.

Commissioner Bolin inquired if the Board will get down to one vote for one person. Mr. Baenziger stated eventually the Board will have to do that because when he starts with two votes, he typically does not ask the Board to rank them because someone could get five votes, somebody could get three votes, and someone could get two votes; but the person who got five votes could be all second-place votes; and the person with three votes could be three first-place votes.

Commissioner Fisher stated if he was a candidate with a three to two vote, he would not feel comfortable about the job opportunity knowing he was one vote away from not getting the job; and it seems to him the Board would want to send a strong message to the next County Manager that he or she has unanimous support. Mr. Baenziger stated there are two parts to that answer; the first part is that there is not an internal candidate, so it is not like the Commissioners have an emotional attachment to someone; the Board has probably never met any of the six candidates before; the Board has read its materials, but it is not like it has a strong identification for one candidate; and chances are, that when the Board gets to the three-two vote, it is a preference. He stated when the Board votes and it is a three/two vote, the candidates know that the Board does not know them well; and the real key is to come back with a follow-up motion that says the Board will give the candidate its unanimous support, no matter who it is, to try to make the relationship work.

Commissioner Infantini stated whoever is selected by the three votes, the Board needs to agree that is who it wants as a County Manager; stated there are some fantastic candidates; and regardless of which one of them is chosen, she is not going to be unhappy. Commissioner Anderson stated he agrees with Commissioner Infantini. Commissioner Fisher stated he thinks it is important to send a strong message to the new County Manager that he or she has the full support of the Board. Commissioner Infantini stated she is looking forward to moving ahead. Chairman Nelson stated the Board was blasted by the newspaper for the process, but there was a difference between talking one-on-one and talking to them on camera; and that has helped guide him in terms of how he feels about the candidates.

Upon motion and vote, the meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m.

ATTEST: ___________________________________

CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

_____________________

SCOTT ELLIS, CLERK

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Meeting Minutes

Jul 31 2009

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