City Manager: Goals, objectives and annual evaluations, in writing

When David Recor was hired as City Manager in 2008, his contract called for written evaluations by the Commission. This TC Palm Editorial calls on the Commission to establish written goals and objectives and to conduct annual, written evaluations. Since Commissioners cannot act in concert out of the Sunshine, these written documents must be aired and discussed at public meetings. Other city staff who report to the Commission include the city attorney and city clerk. The chief of police is hired by the city manager, and reports to him, but his hiring or firing must have the consent of the commission.

Editorial: Fort Pierce City Commission must establish formal evaluation system for city manager

Fort Pierce City Commission must establish procedures on goals related to operation of city administration

By Editorial Board

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Fort Pierce City Manager David Recor was pretty thoroughly raked over the coals recently by members of the City Commission before they agreed in a 3-2 vote not to terminate Recor's contract with the city.

Clearly, Recor is on shaky ground, though he believed going into the meeting that he had the votes to survive.

The manner in which the showdown over his job performance played out, however, was not in anyone's best interest.

Recor remains as city manager working for five members of the City Commission. There need to be some changes in how that relationship is to continue so that it is handled in a more civil and more professional manner.

City commissioners must set some goals and objectives for Recor so he better understands what is expected of him. There should not be a diverse and contradictory set of goals laid out by five individual members that could be impossible to meet. The commission must come together on goals and set them out in writing. What is told to him behind closed doors by individual commissioners must be consistent with what is said in public.

Because commissioners have not evaluated the city manager in writing, confusion might have reigned. Each commissioner should evaluate Recor within the next three months based on goals established to get the process started. At a minimum, the city manager should be given a written evaluation from each commissioner annually, before renewal of his contract.

The written goals and evaluations are not a perfect system in judging expectations and results. As Commissioner Eddie Becht said in addressing what he felt were Recor's shortcomings, "We're not asking David to change his shirt. We're asking him to change his character." But, a more professional and formal procedure should be an improvement over how the relationship operates now.

With the tension now between some commissioners and Recor, it would not be surprising if Recor were to more aggressively seek career opportunities elsewhere. It is incumbent, therefore, for commissioners to establish an orderly plan of succession should Recor or any future city manager for Fort Pierce suddenly leave, be terminated or become incapacitated. Someone needs to have the training and, if possible, the certification to take on that role in the interim. That doesn't necessarily mean re-establishing the position of assistant city manager. It does mean having someone available to fill in the position of city manager if the need arises.

The disagreements between some city commissioners and Recor did not come about overnight. They have been building for years. It's unlikely they will suddenly go away. But, hopefully, some lessons have been learned and actions taken so the operation of city government will be somewhat more functional.

FPUA/CFP transfer not settled, Oct 31, next meeting

For one and a half hours the City of Fort Pierce Commission discussed its proposal to increase the transfer from the FPUA. CFP commissioners and staff say they're owed more from the utility; FPUA staff and Board are offering a formula to transfer more, and also offering to loan the City funds until the transfer proposal can be implemented, subject to the approval of bond counsel and insurers. The FPUA's offer is unacceptable to some commissioners and FPUA Board member, Darrell Drummond, asked the Commission for a joint meeting. FPUA Director, Bill Thiess, presented the FPUA;s proposal to the Commission on Monday night. Four of the five FPUA Board members and their attorney were in the audience, but since it was a commission meeting, and not a public hearing, the Board members were not participants in the discussion.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/17/fort-pierce-commission-discusses-counterproposal/

Fort Pierce Commission discusses counterproposal in negotiations with FPUA

By Eric Pfahler

Monday, October 17, 2011

FORT PIERCE — City commissioners discussed a counterproposal to the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority offer over how to transfer money to the city.

The city and FPUA have been negotiating since August over what money gets transferred to the city. Each year, the city gets 6 percent of the authority's total revenue, which amounted to almost $5 million last year.

But the two sides have disagreed over whether the city should also collect money from the power cost adjustment, which would add about $1.5 million to the city's budget.

The two sides plan to meet, though the time and date have not been set.

Residents' electric bills consist of two parts: the rate and the adjustment. The rate consists of the base rate to run the utility at $42.32 per 1,000 kilowatt hours and the base power cost at $49.52 per 1,000 kilowatt hours. The adjustment is $35 per 1,000 kilowatt hours.

The average customer uses about 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Since 1994, the adjustment has not been included in the transfer.

Commissioners postponed voting on changing the city charter to reflect the city's stance.

FPUA Director Bill Thiess has said the utility believes such a change would require a voter referendum.

On Monday, the two sides made progress after city commissioners responded to the FPUA's offer to move $30 of the $35 adjustment into the base rate. The change would amount to $1 million.

The FPUA board offered a compromise through a 3-2 vote at its Oct. 4 meeting to move part of the power cost adjustment.

City Commissioner Tom Perona and Mayor Bob Benton supported a counteroffer that would move all $35 to the base rate, but hold off on collecting the 6 percent on the last $5 for one year.

But the plan involved the FPUA loaning money to the city that would be repaid beginning in 2015. Commissioners Eddie Becht and Reggie Sessions questioned the need to make loans.

City Finance Director Gloria Johnson said the city should do the calculation based on all of the money, even if it decides to give money back to the FPUA.

"I think we ought to follow the charter, and it says 6 percent of gross revenues," Johnson said.

Staff write Laurie K. Blandford contributed to this report.

Recor Remains By 3 to 2 Vote

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/19/anthony-westbury-after-recor-vote-what-now/?print=1

Anthony Westbury: After Recor vote, what now?

By Anthony Westbury

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

You could have heard a pin drop in the Fort Pierce City Commission chambers Monday evening. When, after much back and forth, the City Commission voted 3-2 not to fire City Manager David Recor, an audible gasp rose from the audience.

Their surprise was because for at least an hour we had been given a blow-by-blow account of why Recor should no longer represent the city, first from Commissioner Eddie Becht and then from the rest of the commission.

With the notable exception of Mayor Bob Benton, most of the comments were none too complimentary.

Becht had laid out a detailed dossier of Recor's transgressions and lack of professional judgment. No one item, Becht stressed, was enough to warrant Recor's termination; rather it was the aggregate effect of a lot of things since Recor first arrived as assistant city manager in 2005.

Becht said the succession of errors had caused him to lose confidence in Recor's abilities to lead the city. Recor is not the person he would choose to steer the city back to excellence and to set it on a firmer footing for the future, Becht concluded.

Three of the other four on the dais seemed to agree with Becht, which made the final vote all the more shocking.

Anyway, fascinating live drama as it was, that's all history. What of the future?

That's important because it's difficult to see how the city can move ahead with someone at the helm who has such little backing by the City Commission.

For Becht and Tom Perona (the other vote for termination), future relations with Recor are likely to be prickly at best. All the parties concerned will act in a professional manner on the surface, I'm sure, but there's little doubt there will be a contentious atmosphere, too.

Recor for his part promised to try to do a better job. He said he would take the commission's criticisms to heart and do better in the future. I did not, however, detect much passion or conviction in that response. He was told by Commissioner Reggie Sessions to be "more meek and humble" in his dealings with the commission and the public.

Yet, as Becht pointed out, "We're not asking David to change his shirt. We're asking him to change his character."

Recor, Becht argued, is not the leader he and the city need.

"This is going to be a problem today, tomorrow and in the future," Becht said.

I think he's right, and I was disappointed not to see any passion from Recor about how he really likes working in Fort Pierce or how he's committed to staying.

His "I'll try to do better in the future" line did not seem particularly heartfelt.

I'm concerned that Monday night's decision is likely to create even more uncertainty in what was referred to as a "shaky" environment inside City Hall. I fear the city will continue to meander along rather than having a strong and committed hand at the wheel. I'm fearful that two department heads (both excellent people) named by Becht as possible replacements may face their own retribution problems in the future.

In the past I've disagreed with many of Recor's decisions and been critical of his management style. Yet I did feel some personal sympathy for him, in effect, being flogged in public for his shortcomings.

At the very least, there are a couple of lessons to be learned here. First, the city needs a firm succession plan should the city manager leave or become incapacitated. That would, at least in the short term, remove uncertainties about who's next in line,

Second, several months ago, only two commission members bothered to give Recor a written job performance evaluation. Having some written goals and objectives to work toward might have given him more direction.

I suspect Recor is probably getting his resume ready as we speak. When the time comes, he should leave as gracefully and with the minimum of negative impact on the city as he can.

That in itself would be a worthwhile legacy.

Anthony Westbury is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects his opinion. For more on St. Lucie County topics, follow his blog at tcpalm.com/westbury. Contact him at 772-409-1320 oranthony.westbury@scripps.com.

Do commissioners want City Manager Recor to remain?

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/16/editorial-if-fort-pierce-commissioners-have-lost/

Editorial: If Fort Pierce commissioners have lost faith in city manager, relationship should be severed

If Fort Pierce commissioners have lost faith in David Recor, delays in severing relationship would serve no good

editorial board

Sunday, October 16, 2011

If Fort Pierce city commissioners can picture David Recor as city manager three to five years from now and want him in that position, they should formally establish expectations for him and move on. If they do not, they should sever relations now.

Commissioner Eddie Becht had called for a vote of no confidence in Recor for Monday night.

According to the agenda for the meeting, however, commissioners are to discuss termination of Recor's contract and possible discussion on an interim city manager.

In a letter to the editor, Becht wrote, "I made a decision that Fort Pierce needed new leadership approximately three or more months ago, based on many factors. It was the result of my disagreement with many of City Manager David Recor's management decisions over the years. This is not about one thing he did or did not do, but many things."

Becht said he delayed proposing a vote on Recor until after the city budget was adopted. The budget was adopted Sept. 26 and Becht informed Recor of his position the next day.

Recor, 44, became deputy city manager in May 2005 and city manager in October 2008. During those more than six years, Recor has come under criticism from various commissioners over his management style, his oversight of city departments and his relationship with the public.

One of his chief critics initially was Mayor Bob Benton, who now firmly supports Recor.

If Recor is terminated, the city would owe him about $127,000 in severance and benefits, according to city Finance Director Gloria Johnson. But, Benton said that the total cost to terminate Recor, to recruit a successor and pay expenses for the relocation of that individual could be $200,000 to $500,000 — "in the long run."

"Isn't it easier to give him (Recor) another chance?" Benton asked.

While financial implications must be considered by the city, there are greater considerations, including whether elected commissioners believe Recor is the best person to be the city's top administrator. If he's not, the long-term costs of not having the right leader could far outweigh any six-figure investment in hiring a successor.

A rift between commissioners and Recor seemed evident when the budget for the coming year was adopted despite pleas from Recor to raise the tax rate to account for a potential budget gap in the future.

"It's sad to say that we are no longer a city of excellence," Recor said before the vote. "For someone who has a lot of pride in our past accomplishments, it's frustrating (and) disappointing to watch the evolution."

Becht described Recor's presentation as scare tactics.

City commissioners unanimously rejected the city manager's plea for the higher tax rate.

At the most recent meeting of the City Commission, Benton, with Becht absent, called on commissioners to express their support for Recor to avoid the potential termination vote now under consideration for Monday. Commissioners present didn't respond.

"I was surprised I didn't get any feedback," Benton said in an interview last week.

So the showdown is set for Monday. Regardless of the outcome, it's difficult to see how anyone could find cause for celebration.

FPUA and CFP Police Department

The FPUA agreed to move $30 of the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) into the base power cost, thereby increasing the transfer from the utility to the CFP by an estimated $1.5 million. While electric rates may not be immediately increased, there may not be planned decreases. Already planned are increases in gas and water and waste water rates. The FPUA agreed to use the public service commission deflator index for future rate levels. The PCA, which is $35 as of October 1, 2011, will still be a fluctuating part of what's billed to the customer. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/04/fpuas-new-method-of-transferring-funds-to-city/

CFP Police Department will add five police officers, whose salaries and benefits will be paid for three years by a federal grant, while the fourth year must be paid by taxpayers. Nine other officers are already paid from federal grant monies. Chief Sean Baldwin says there is an increase in robberies, burglaries, and gang-related shootings this year.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/04/federal-grant-will-pay-for-five-fort-pierce/

CFP and the increased FPUA Transfer

The CFP's attempt to increase the transfer from the FPUA may not increase rates immediately, but planned decreases will not happen. Any way you slice it, the increased transfer comes from the ratepayer, and the City of Fort Pierce is changing the way the transfer has been calculated for for the last 17 years.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/29/fort-pierce-fpua-agreement-unlikely-to-result-in/

Becht Calls for Vote of No Confidence on City Manager Recor

Commission Edward W. Becht called for a vote of no confidence on City Manager David L. Recor this week, after Monday night's commission meeting when Recor made a televised presentation from the public podium for an increased millage rate, and the Commission denied his recommendation and kept the current millage rate. The minutes of the September 26 meeting is on line at the City's website. http://www.cityoffortpierce.com/pdf/Minutes09262011.pdf. During the meeting, Recor implied that Jon Ward had resigned. Supposedly, Jon Ward resigned because of negative comments from commissioners, but he later rescinded the resignation. City Manager David Recor asked for 10% reductions from department heads following the Ccommission's refusal to increase the millage rate in the September 19 meeting.

In the no-confidence vote, Mayor Bob Benton has expressed his solid support for Mr. Recor.

In reply to Mr. Recor's attempt to apologize via email, Commissioner Becht expressed his lack of confidence is not personal, and that he had made a decision months earlier, but was advised to wait until the budget process was over. The no confidence vote is scheduled for October 17, 2011.

Read about the millage rate, and no confidence vote here:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/29/fort-pierce-city-manager-apologizes-commissioner/

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/28/fort-pierce-commissioner-becht-seeks-no-vote-on/

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/27/budget-cut-proposals-could-mean-layoffs-services/

The Commission will consider new district lines drawn after the 2010 census on Monday evening, October 3, 2011. Redistricting the lines is item number 11 on the agenda, Ordinance L-225. Current District one lies north of Delaware and Okeechobee, and District two south of those streets. The proposed change adds those areas west of 13th Street and north of Virginia Avenue to District One.